Trojans Win Twice to Open Tournament

Friday, September 14

Montgomery, Ala.

5:00 p.m.

Troy University

Jackson State

9/14/2012 3:25:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score vs Alabama State
Box Score vs Jackson State

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Troy volleyball team opened the ASU Invitational with straight-set wins over host Alabama State (25-12, 25-22, 25-15) and Jackson State (25-14, 25-17, 25-18) on Friday.

Troy played outstanding defense on the day, holding the Hornets and Tigers to -.010 and .085 attack percentages, respectively, while Breanna Cullity tied a school record with nine blocks in the match against ASU.

The Trojans match against Jackson State marked their first this season against an NCAA Tournament team from last season.

“It's always good to play teams that have been to the NCAA Tournament and have played at that level,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “It's good to see our hard work that we've put in coming back to help us.”

The Trojans have now won eight of their last 10 matches after starting the season 0-3.

“Tomorrow is a big match for us,” Kirkpatrick said. “UMES is a good team. We got a chance to watch them play North Texas earlier today and they're going to be a quality opponent. If we clean up a couple of errors, it should be a good match.”

Troy will look to finish the weekend undefeated on Saturday when it takes on a second NCAA Tournament team from last year in defending MEAC champion Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Trojans (8-5) and Hawks (12-1) are set to begin at 9 a.m. Live stats will be available via BamaStateSports.com.

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

TROY 3, JACKSON STATE 0

Devin Von Pingel led Troy (8-5) to its second straight-set win of the day, this one over Jackson State (2-9), an NCAA Tournament team a year ago. Von Pingel recorded 11 kills with no errors for a .611 attack percentage. Cullity also hit over .500 with six kills and no errors.

As a team, Troy tied a season-high with a .337 attack percentage thanks to 39 kills and just 10 errors. Jackson State in comparison had just 29 kills as Troy played tough defense for the second straight match.

Courtney Cohen led the way with 17 digs while the Trojans held the Tigers to just a .085 attack percentage.

Christine Edwards led Jackson State with 12 kills in the match.

With Troy leading a close set in the opening frame at 16-13, the Trojans went on a decisive run, scoring nine of 10 to take a commanding 25-14 first-set win.

The Trojans hit .306 in the opening set as a team and upped that mark to .333 and .400 in the final two sets, respectively, to take the straight-set win.

TROY 3, ALABAMA STATE 0

The Trojans hit .219 as a team while holding the Hornets (0-13) to a -.010 mark. Troy was led by a young group offensively as true freshman Blair Winston had a team-high 10 kills and fellow true freshman Darby Griff hit a match-high .417 with seven kills and two errors on 12 attempts.

Alexandra Alexander posted 32 assists, but the story was the Trojans' defense.

Cullity tied a school record as she became just the sixth person since 1999 to post nine total blocks in a match. The Trojans had 11.0 total team blocks, the second most this season, and the most in a three-set match.

Cohen led the way with 15 digs for the Trojans while Ali Dowdall, another freshman, was also in double-figures with 11 digs.

Alabama State was led by Rachel Smith who had half of the Hornets 24 team kills.

The Trojans were ready to play right out of the gates as they jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first set on their way to a 25-12 win. Troy held ASU to -.150 attack percentage in the frame.

After a tight second set went the Trojans way at 25-22, Troy hit a match-high .308 in third set as they broke open a 15-14 score with 10 of 11 points to win 25-15.