Trojans Return Home, Down Denver

Friday, October 21

Troy, Ala.

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

University of Denver

Photo by: Cass Davis

10/21/2011 9:28:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – The Troy volleyball team welcomed the site of Sartain Hall on Friday night as the Trojans rallied behind their home crowd to top Denver, 3-1.

The win marks the first in program history for the Trojans (14-8, 4-4) over the Pioneers in eight tries. The win also pushes the Trojans to 6-0 at home for the first time in the team's Division I history.

“I thought we played well tonight,” head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “Both teams challenged each other, and fortunately for us, we came out on the winning side.”

“This was a great conference win for us, but we need to get better for North Texas tomorrow.”

The Trojans return home on Saturday when they take on North Texas. Troy and the Mean Green are set to begin at 12:00 noon inside Sartain Hall.

Check back with TroyTrojans.com for stats and a recap from Saturday's match. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or become fans on Facebook.

TROY 3, DENVER 1 (25-18, 25-20, 14-25, 25-22)

Natasha Kolunija led the Trojans offense in the historic win as she recorded 18 kills with just five errors for a .310 attack percentage. Devin Von Pingel was also in double-digits as she recorded 10 kills with just two errors for a .333 percentage.

Alexandra Alexander recorded 39 assists as the Trojans hit .199 as a team. Defensively, Troy held Denver to a .196 clip as Courtney Cohen led the way with 16 digs while Alexandra recorded 13 for her 10th double-double of the year.

The Trojans jumped out to an early lead in the first set as a 7-2 score forced Denver (9-13, 6-4) head coach Beth Kuwata to call an early timeout. The Pioneers would get to within four as late as 12-8, but Troy went on a 9-4 run to pull ahead 21-12 before taking the final set, 25-18.

The second set was tight throughout as the Trojans had to become from behind to claim the vital 2-0 lead. Troy was down 18-14, but used six straight to take a 20-18 lead. Troy rode the momentum as they won five of the next seven to take the second set, 25-20.

The Pioneers outhit the Trojans .367 to -.059 in the third set as Troy dropped their only set of the match, 25-14. The Trojans however would rebound to hold Denver to a match-low .057 attack percentage in the final set.

The final set was tight throughout as it saw a match-high 14 ties, the latest being at 22-22. Troy would then record three straight to close out the Pioneers, 25-22, marking the Trojans first victory ever over Denver.