Troy Falls To Auburn For Second Time

Tuesday, September 7

Troy, AL

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

Auburn University

Photo by: Troy University

9/7/2010 9:30:41 PM | Volleyball

The Trojans now hit the road for nine games before returning home at the end of the month

By: Brynna Waters

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - The Troy University volleyball team dropped their match against the Auburn University Tigers Tuesday night 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-21). The Trojans played in front of their largest crowd of the season, many of which were members of the Sound of the South and the cheerleading squad.

"We played really well tonight," head coach Sonny Kirkpartrick said. "There were a couple of serve-recieve rotations that we were unable to get out of that made the difference in the game. We competed much harder this time than the last time we played.

"For whatever reason, we are under an eight ball right now and keep getting injured. That is something we don't need at the moment, we are very thin."

Troy (3-5) was led on the night by senior Megan Henderson, who recorded 22 assists, eleven digs, and two kills for the Trojans. Sophomore Kayla Giles and juniors Natasha Kolunija and Brittany McClelland each had six kills on the night for Troy.

Auburn (7-2) took an early lead in the first set, but a pair of Tiger errors and a kill from sophomore Lizzie Clough tied the game at 5-all, from there the set would be tied two more times before the Tigers jumped back on top. The Trojans began another rally with kills from Giles and McClelland bringing the score to 16-14, but this time the rally was not enough and the Tigers eventually took the set.

In the second set, the tables were turned, the Trojans took an early lead with a service ace by Henderson, and kills from Giles and McClelland. The Tigers began a comeback at 5-0, but kills from Kolunija and Henderson kept the Tigers off the prowl until they tied it 17-all. An error from the Tigers brought the Trojans back in the set, but this wasn't enough and Troy went into intermission down 2-0.

The third set was the closest for the Trojans and Auburn. Troy saw themselves with an early lead again, helped by errors on the Tiger side and kills from Giles and McClelland. The Tigers came back and tied the game at 12-all, and from there the Trojans were never able to regain the lead. Troy stayed close throughout the set with kills by Kolunija, Giles, and sophomore Devin Von Pingel. Auburn was able to pull out late bringing the last set to an end at 25-21.

Troy will hit the road on Friday for a nine game road streak. The first stop will be in Jacksonville, Florida to participate in the North Florida Invitational. Follow all the Troy action on Twitter by following @TroyAthletics.