Trojans Complete Undefeated Weekend, Win Tournament Title

Saturday, September 1

Martin, Tenn.

11:00 a.m.

Troy University

DePaul

Photo by: Cass Davis

Trojans Complete Undefeated Weekend, Win Tournament Title

9/1/2012 1:14:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score vs DePaul | Box Score vs Wright State

MARTIN, Tenn. – The Troy volleyball team capped an undefeated weekend with a five-set win over Wright State on Saturday, 3-2 (24-26, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17, 15-10), as the Trojans captured the tournament title at the First State Skyhawk Invitational.

“We're happy with what we did on the weekend,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we're headed in right direction.”

Just like their Saturday morning win over DePaul, the Trojans (3-3) lost a tight first set and rebounded for an impressive win. Also just like the DePaul match, Blair Winston led the Trojans offensively, this time with 21 kills, as the true freshman earned Tournament MVP honors.

Fellow all-tournament team member Breanna Cullity posted 11 kills with just three errors while Kayla Pickart posted 12. Alexandra Alexander picked up 52 assists to give her nearly 100 for the day, to go along with 14 digs.

All-tournament team member Courtney Cohen recorded 24 digs to lead the Trojans on the day. Defensively on the front line, Troy posted 12.0 total team blocks, including six each from Alexander and Cullity.

Heidi Splinter led Wright State (0-7) with 18 kills as the Raiders outhit Troy, .216 to .205.

The Trojans dug out of an early hole in set one and the two sides were tied at 24-24 before the Raiders used a two-point run to take the opening frame, but once again Troy answered as they held Wright State to a .057 attack percentage in a 25-18 second set win.

Troy hit a match-low .128 in the third set as Wright State put Troy's tournament title hopes on the brink with a 25-21 win that gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead in the match.

Again Troy answered, this time with 16 fourth-set kills as they hit a match-high .256 in the frame to take an easy 25-17 lead to knot the match up at 2-2.

In the deciding fifth set, Troy took a 5-5 game and broke it open to take a 10-6 lead as they cruised to a 15-10 win that clinched the tournament title.

The tournament title wasn't an easy one as the Trojans used two five-set wins, including one late Friday night over tournament host UT Martin that was followed by an early Saturday start time against DePaul of the Big East.

“I'm proud of the way we battled this weekend, especially with the two five-setters,” Kirkpatrick said. “The important thing is that we manage to find ways to win, and that helps in the long run.”

Troy now returns home to take on Auburn on Tuesday night with first serve set for 7 p.m. at Sartain Hall.

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.

TROY 3, DePAUL 2

After a five-set win over UT Martin late on Friday night, the Troy volleyball team returned to the court on
Saturday morning as they defeated DePaul of the Big East, 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-21), at the First State Skyhawk Invitational.

“We played really well today,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “We lost the first game close and I'm really proud of the way we responded after that first set. We're starting to do the things we expected we would do this season.”

The Trojans (2-3) hit a season high .232 as a team as Alexandra Alexander picked up 44 assists and Troy spiked down 53 kills while DePaul (2-3) recorded 45 kills.

Blair Winston led the Troy offense with 14 kills while Breanna Cullity and Devin Von Pingel each picked up 11 kills. Cullity and Von Pingel hit .474 and .348, respectively, as the duo combined with just five errors.

Defensively, Courtney Cohen recorded a match-high 28 digs while Alexander posted 21. Madeleine Bouillion was also in double digits with 10 digs.

Vesela Zapryanova led DePaul with 19 kills and a .304 attack percentage while Allyson Rooks led the Blue Demons with 16 digs.

The first set was a tight one with 15 ties, including as late as 21-21, but DePaul took the first set, 25-23.

The Trojans responded to their .116 attack percentage in the first set with a .290 mark in the second as they rolled past the Blue Demons to even up the match.

Troy topped the effort in the third set with an impressive .355 clip in the third set thanks to 12 kills and just one error. The Trojans closed out the match in a tight fourth set that saw 12 ties. Troy overcame a 16-14 deficit in that fourth set with a 7-1 run to take a 21-17 lead before closing the match with a 25-21 win.

The win over DePaul is the second win in two tries over the Big East for Troy in the last four years as they defeated St. John's, also on a neutral court, in 2009.