Troy Rallies, But Falls Short at FIU

Friday, October 28

Miami, Fla.

6:30 p.m. (est)

Troy University

Florida International University

Photo by: Cass Davis

10/28/2011 8:57:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

MIAMI, Fla. – The Troy volleyball team took on the team just above them in the standings on Friday night, but after a late rally, still fell short as they lost to FIU, 3-1, on the road in the Sun Belt action.

The Trojans (14-10, 4-6) fell in an 0-2 hole after the first two sets, but fought back to win the third and put pressure on the Panthers (15-7, 7-4). However, FIU responded and put away the match in the fourth.

Troy returns to the court on Saturday when they make the short drive to Boca Raton, Fla., to take on Florida Atlantic. The Trojans and Owls are set to begin at 12:00 p.m. CT.

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

FIU 3, TROY 1 (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18)

With their top attacker as of late, Natasha Kolunija, out due to injury, the Troy offense was paced by Mailande Parker's career-high 10 kills. The junior, who has served as the Trojans' setter at times this season, also recorded 13 digs for her third double-double of the season.

Alexandra Alexander posted 30 assists on the night as the Trojans hit just .070 as a team. The Panthers, in comparison, hit .232 as Jovana Bjelica led them with 21 kills. Courtney Cohen led the Trojans with 18 digs while Alexander posted 13.

The Trojans actually posted their best attack percentage in the first set as they hit .148 as a team, but FIU hit .387 and dropped the Trojans, 25-17, the largest margin of any of the four sets. Troy was as close as two at 15-13, but could only manage four more points as the Panther took the first set.

Troy held FIU to a .186 attack percentage in the second set, but only managed .093 themselves as a late run by FIU moved the score from 17-16 to 21-16 and ultimately led to a 25-21 Panther win.

The Trojans would give themselves a chance at the comeback in the third set as they held FIU to a .044 attack percentage. The set was very closely contested as the two sides were tied on 15 different occasions and swapped the lead 11 different times.

With the score tied at 23-23, the Trojans would get the points that mattered as a block by Alexander and Brittany McClelland gave Troy a 24-23 lead and an attack error by the Panthers gave the Trojans a 25-23, third-set win.

The Trojans would try their best to force a deciding set as they fought back from an early 9-3 deficit in the fourth set to get within one at 12-11. However, with Troy still within one at 14-13, FIU went on a four-point run to take an 18-13 lead that would lead to a 25-18 set win for the Panthers.