Trojans Dominate Middle Tennessee on the Road

Saturday, September 22

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

Middle Tennessee

Photo by: Tyler Myers

Trojans Dominate Middle Tennessee on the Road

9/22/2012 9:28:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Troy volleyball team closed its opening weekend of Sun Belt play with a dominate straight-set win on the road at Middle Tennessee on Saturday night, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-13).

The Trojans (10-7, 1-1) hit a season-high .356 against the Blue Raiders who played in the Sun Belt title game last season. Brenna Cullity was unstoppable with 19 kills and a .389 attack percentage as Troy had 45 kills as a team with just 13 errors.

Alexandra Alexander posted 40 assists on the 45 kills while Blair Winston was second behind Cullity with 10 kills. Mailande Parker hit a match-high .500 with eight kills and one error on 14 swings.

“We played really well and it's great to get the second ever win over Middle Tennessee in program history,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “We've been working on some things and they've all started to click. We pulled everything together tonight, probably for the first time this year and it was fun to watch.”

The win marks the second in 17 meetings against Middle Tennessee for Troy, and the first ever in Sun Belt for Troy over the Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee (3-14, 0-2) was led by Chelsea Ross and Katie Bange who each posted nine kills while Troy held the Blue Raiders to a .120 team attack percentage, thanks in large part to 7.0 total blocks by the Trojans.

Darby Griff led Troy with five blocks while Ali Dowdall led the way with 10 digs.

Troy come out on fire, opening up a 9-4 lead in the opening set. Troy finished the first set with a .462 attack percentage thanks to 15 kills and just three errors on their way to a 25-19 win.

The second set was close, with the two sides finding themselves tied nine times, but with the score at 20-20, the Trojans rattled off five straight, capped by a service ace from Devin Von Pingel to take the 25-20 win.

The Trojans held the momentum and dominated the late portions of the third set. Troy led by a narrow point at 13-12 before using a 12-1 run to clinch the match with a 25-13 third-set win.

The Trojans return to the floor next weekend when they host FIU and Florida Atlantic at Sartain Hall on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Trojans and Panthers are set to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday.

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.