Trojans Face Final Two Road Tests

Live Stats at FIU

TROY, Ala. – After suffering their first home loss of the season last weekend, the Troy volleyball team travels south to take on FIU and Florida Atlantic this weekend. The matches will be the last two on the road this season as the Trojans close out the regular season with five straight at home.

The Trojans first travel to Miami where they will face FIU at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday. Troy will then make the short drive to Boca Raton, Fla., where they will face Florida Atlantic at 12:00 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Check back with TroyTrojans.com for results and recaps from both matches. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter @TroyAthletics or become fans on Facebook.

TROY

2011 Record: 14-9, 4-5 SBC
Last Time Out: L (1-3) vs. North Texas
Head Coach: Sonny Kirkpatrick (Sixth season)

The Trojans enter the weekend after losing a tough match at home on Sunday. The Trojans fell to North Texas in four sets, despite out-hitting the Mean Green in every set. The loss was the first at home on the season for the Trojans who are 6-1 at Sartain Hall but just 8-8 away from it.

That loss came the day after the Trojans defeated Denver for the first time in school history while also moving to 6-0 at home to start the season for the first time in school history.

The Trojans are led by a solid defense that holds opponents to a .173 attack percentage, the third best mark in the Sun Belt. Courtney Cohen leads that defense as her 4.75 digs/set average is tops in the league. The sophomore libero is on pace to post 520 digs which would break the school record of 488.

Senior Brittany McClelland is also on the verge of history as her 57 block assists in 2011, which are tops on the team, now have her at 220 for her career, just five away from Meghan Gilroy's school record.

Offensively, the Trojans are led by another senior, Natasha Kolunija, who averages a team-best 2.83 kills/set. Devin Von Pingel is the Trojans' most consistent hitter as her .340 attack percentage sits as the fourth best mark in the Sun Belt.

Alexandra Alexander sets up the offensive attack as her 9.87 assists/set average is the fourth best in the Sun Belt.

FIU

2011 Record: 14-7, 6-4 SBC
Last Time Out: W (3-0) vs. Florida Atlantic
Head Coach: Danijela Tomic (Seventh season)
Series: FIU leads 11-0

The Panthers enter the weekend just above the Trojans in the Sun Belt East Division standings as they have won three straight matches. FIU is 0-4 this season against the Sun Belt's top two teams in Middle Tennessee and WKU and 6-0 against the rest of the league.

The Panthers are led Jovana Bjelica who averages 4.34 kills/set, the best mark in the league. FIU as a team hits .232 which is good for fourth in the Sun Belt.

Defensively, the Panthers hold teams to a .188 attack percentage and sit second in the conference at 2.34 blocks/set. Sabrina Gonzalez averages 1.04 blocks/set individually which places her third in the league.

The Trojans have never defeated FIU in 11 tries, including an 0-6 mark in Miami.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC

2011 Record: 3-19, 0-10 SBC
Last Time Out: L (0-3) at FIU
Head Coach: Jody Brown (17th season)
Series: Florida Atlantic leads 13-7

The Owls enter the weekend as losers of their last 10 matches, all in the Sun Belt. In that span, Florida Atlantic has won just two sets and they've won just 15 sets on the entire season.

The Owls sits last in the league with a .107 team attack percentage and allow opponents to hit .220, the second worst mark in the Sun Belt. Georgia Robinson is the only Owl averaging over 2.00 kills/set as she sits at 2.28.

Sara Stoll averages 0.96 blocks/set for the Owls defense and sits among the league leaders in that category.

The Trojans are 7-13 all-time against the Owls dating back to each school's A-Sun days. The Trojans joined the Sun Belt in 2005 while the Owls followed in 2006. Troy is 6-4 against Florida Atlantic in Sun Belt contests and 3-6 all-time in Boca Raton.

Troy University Athletics

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