Troy Falls in SBC Quarterfinals

Thursday, November 17

Miami, Fla.

4:00 p.m.

Troy University

Western Kentucky University

11/17/2011 6:13:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

TROY, Ala. – The Troy volleyball team saw a successful season come to an end on Thursday afternoon at the Sun Belt Volleyball Championships as they fell to WKU, 3-0, in quarterfinal action.

The Lady Toppers move on to the semifinals while the Trojans return home after a very successful season. Troy (16-15) qualified for the Sun Belt Championships for the first time since 2005 and finished with a winning record for the first time since 2003.

Along with the team's success, three seniors close out their Trojan careers as Natasha Kolunija, Laura Mackley and Brittany McClelland finished their successful time at Troy.

WKU 3, TROY 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-16)

The Trojans moved to 0-3 against WKU, the Sun Belt Regular Season Champions, on the season as they fell to the Lady Toppers in straight sets. Breanna Cullity led the Trojans offense with eight kills while Devin Von Pingel and Kayla Pickart each knocked down seven.

Courtney Cohen, who was named to the All-Sun Belt team on Wednesday night, led the Troy defense with 13 digs as she built on her Troy single-season record and finishes the season with 525 digs.

The Trojans hit .357 in the first set with just one error, but it wasn't enough to stop WKU (29-3) who hit .576 in the frame with 21 kills and two errors. The Trojans were in it early at 8-5, but WKU used a four-point run to pull ahead 12-5 and take control of the set. Troy never got closer than five points as the Lady Toppers took the set, 25-15.

Troy didn't let the first-set loss keep them down as they built an early lead in the second frame as they led by as much as five at 11-6. Troy held a 14-10 lead when WKU made its run at the set. The Lady Toppers scored eight straight points to cut the four-point deficit and take a four-point lead of their own at 18-14.

Troy cut the lead to two at 18-16 but only managed three more points as WKU took the second set, 25-19. The second set was the worst offensively for the Trojans who hit just .073 while WKU swung at a .368 clip.

Troy again took an early lead in the third set as they went up 9-6, but WKU scored four straight to go ahead 10-9. Troy kept the score within two at 14-12, but WKU scored three more to pull ahead by five at 17-12. The Trojans couldn't get any closer than three points at 17-14 as they fell in the final set, 25-16.