Troy Volleyball Drops Season Opener and Exhibition in Georgia

Friday, August 24

Athens, Ga.

12:00 p.m.

Troy University

Georgia State

Photo by: Cass Davis

Troy Volleyball Drops Season Opener and Exhibition in Georgia

8/24/2012 2:38:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Scores: vs. Georgia State | vs. Slovenia (Exhibition)

ATHENS, Ga. – The Troy volleyball team opened its 2012 season with a loss to Georgia State on Friday at the Benson Hospitality Bulldog Invitational hosted by Georgia at the Ramsey Student Center. The Trojans also dropped a straight-set exhibition match against the Slovenian National Team.

Troy will return to floor in Athens, Ga. when they take on the host Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CST.

For more information on Troy Athletics, be sure to visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.

GEORGIA STATE 3, TROY 0

Troy and Georgia State were evenly matched statistically, but GSU picked up the 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20) win in a match that was much closer than the score indicated.

The two sides had nearly identical attack percentages with Troy swinging at .104 and Georgia State at .103. The Panthers posted 32 kills to the Trojans 31 while the two sides 21 and 20 attack errors, respectively.

Senior Breanna Cullity led Troy with a match-high 10 kills to just four errors. The senior middle hitter also posted a team-high three total blocks. Devin Von Pingel posted a team-high .400 attack percentage with four kills and no errors on 10 attempts.

The Trojans, running a 6-2 offense for the first time in head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick's seven-year tenure, were led by Alexandra Alexander with 11 assists while fellow setter Grace Fink posted eight assists.

Alexander posted a double-double with 14 digs in addition to her assist total while 2011 All-Sun Belt libero Courtney Cohen led the Trojans with a match-high 17 digs.

Andrea Book led Georgia State with eight kills while Jamiee Freeman posted seven. Georgia State did post six service aces to their seven service errors while Troy posted no aces and eight errors.

Troy held a lead in the first set at 16-14, and played well defensively throughout the frame, holding GSU to a -.030 attack percentage. However, with Troy holding the slim two-point advantage, the Panthers went on a 5-0 run to take a 19-16 lead.

The second set saw eight separate ties, including as late as 19-19 after Troy led 18-17. With the score knotted up, GSU used a three-point swing to take a 22-19 lead on their way to winning the set.

Troy went into the break hitting just .055 as a team, but turned it up offensively in the third set, hitting .212 in the frame. However, Georgia State his .278 in the deciding set with just three errors to 13 kills. The final set was close early, but the Panthers used a run to take a 14-9 lead and Troy could only get within three before the match was over.

SLOVENIA 3, TROY 0

Troy got a taste of international play in their second game of the tournament, taking on Slovenia. The Trojans fell 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-9) with Devin Von Pingel leading the way with seven kills and no errors on 12 attempts for a .583 attack percentage.

Cassie Daniels led Troy with 12 assists while fellow setter Brianna Bartlett recorded a team-high 10 digs.

Troy hit an even .100 as a team in the match while Slovenia posted a .281 attack percentage.