Trojans Split Pair, Both in Five Sets

Saturday, September 10

Kennesaw, Ga.

10:00 a.m. (est)

Troy University

Kennesaw State University

9/10/2011 1:13:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Kennesaw State Box Score
Eastern Kentucky Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Troy University volleyball team split a couple of thrilling matches on Saturday at the Owls Classic hosted by Kennesaw State.

In their morning match, the Trojans (7-4) faced their third consecutive 0-2 hole, and for the second time in those three match came back to win in five-sets as they dropped Kennesaw State.

In the afternoon match, the Trojans were the victims of the comeback as Eastern Kentucky overcame a 2-1 deficit to drop Troy in five-sets.

The Trojans have now played four, five-set matches thus far in 2011. Troy played just five deciding sets in all of 2010. Troy is 2-2 in the four matches this season after going 1-4 a year ago.

The match was the first of two for the Trojans on Saturday as they will close out their weekend with Eastern Kentucky at 4:00 p.m. CT.

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

TROY 3, KENNESAW STATE 2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-17, 15-12)

The Trojans were actually out-killed on the day by the Owls (4-6), 67-53, but a strong service game made up the gap. Troy posted a season-high 13 service aces, compared to just four errors while Kennesaw State record seven aces and eight errors.

Troy also out-blocked KSU, 10-3, with Mailande Parker recording a team-high six total blocks from her setter position. Parker also contributed 37 assists and 13 digs in the match.

Offensively, four different Trojans posted eight kills or more, with Breanna Cullity leading the way with 11.

For the ninth straight match, Courtney Cohen posted more than 15 digs as she recorded a team-high 17. Troy is 7-2 in those nine matches.

The Trojans came out cold as they hit just .118 and .094 in the first two sets, respectively. The poor hitting efforts resulted in 25-22 and 25-18 losses.

Troy seemed destine to lose its second straight match in the third set as they trailed 17-13. However, the resilient Trojans won eight of the next nine points to take a 21-18 lead. After the Owls got within one at 21-20, Troy took four straight to take the third set 25-20.

The Trojans rode the momentum into the fourth set as they were nearly perfect, recording 11 kills and no errors for a .478 attack percentage in a 25-17 win that forced the deciding fifth set.

After trailing 3-1 in the fifth frame, Troy rattled off five straight to take a three-point lead at 6-3. Troy expanded the lead to four at 10-6 before the Owls fought back to tie things up at 10-10. Kennesaw State actually took a lead at 11-10 before four straight points put the Trojans on the door step of a win at 14-11.

A Troy service error pulled KSU within two at 14-12, but the Owls eighth service error of the match gave Troy a fifth-set win, 15-12.

EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, TROY 2 (11-25, 25-20, 20-25, 27-25, 15-9)

Lucy Cikra paced the Trojans with a season-high 14 kills. Cullity (12) and Natasha Kolunija (10) were also in double-figures for the Trojans offense. Parker recorded 43 assists.

Defensively, Cohen extended her streak of matches with 15+ digs to ten as she posted 28 digs against the Colonels (5-6). Lizzie Clough (15) and Kelley Curran (13) also were in double-digits.

Troy continued to block well as a team as they posted 10.0 blocks with Brittany McClelland leading the way with seven.

The Trojans dominated the first set as they hit .387 while holding the Colonels to a .000 clip. Troy posted 15 kills in the frame on their way to winning it in convincing fashion, 25-11.

EKU would turn their six first-set kills into 16 in the second set as they took it, 25-20, and evened the match up at one set apiece.

The Trojans retook control in the third set thanks to a defensive effort that held the Colonels to a -.079 attack percentage. Troy jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the third stanza and held on to win it 25-20.

The fourth set would prove to be the closest, with both sides squandering chances to close out the set. EKU had three chances when they found themselves up 24-21, while Troy had a chance after fighting back and pulling ahead, 25-24.

However, the Colonels responded after facing defeat and took the fourth set, 27-25.

The fifth and final set was one of swings as EKU jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Troy responded to tie things at 4-4. The Colonels would then flip the script and score four straight to pull ahead, 8-4. The final run proved too much as EKU maintained the lead and took the deciding set, 15-9.