Trojans Sweep Rival South Alabama on Road

Wednesday, October 2

Mobile, Ala.

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

6-11 (1-2SBC)

South Alabama

5-8 (0-3SBC)

Troy

South Alabama

Photo by: Joshua Thurston

10/2/2013 9:32:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Matt Mays

Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – The Troy volleyball team came out on the winning end of three very tight sets against South Alabama on Wednesday night, knocking off its in-state, Sun Belt rival, 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 26-24), at Jaguar Gym.

In a series that is always close, Troy picked up just the third sweep in 17 matches between the two since the Trojans moved to the Sun Belt in 2005. Troy is now 21-17 against South Alabama since moving to Division I, including a 9-9 mark on the road.

Troy (6-11, 1-2) also picked up its first Sun Belt win heading into a stretch of four straight matches at home that begins Friday with Louisiana-Lafayette. South Alabama (5-8, 0-3) remained winless in Sun Belt play with all three losses coming at home.

"We had a good practice on Tuesday and did some things differently that the team responded to well," Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. "I couldn't be more proud of the effort put forth to win our first Sun Belt game of the year. We needed this win headed into a couple of tough matches against ULL and UALR at home this weekend."

The Trojans posted a .248 attack percentage, their second best of the season, as Kiah Cheatham led the way with a .471 attack percentage thanks to eight kills and no attack errors on 17 swings.

Marija Zelenovic led the way with 11 kills while Blair Winston posted nine for the Trojans who had 45 kills as a team to just 17 attack errors.

Alexandra Alexander had a double-double, her 10th of year and third straight, with 34 assists and 10 digs. Courtney Cohen led the way with a match-high 12 digs.

The first set was tied 14 times, including as late as 24-24, before Alexander posted two straight kills to give Troy the win.

The Trojans hit a match-high .324 as a team in the second set, but had to come from behind to take the win. Troy trailed 20-13 before scoring eight of nine to tie the set at 21-21. The Trojans then faced two set points at 24-22 before scoring four straight to take a commanding 2-0 lead.

In the third set, after leading 21-16, the Trojans had to hold off the Jaguars who came back to tie the set, 24-24. Troy got a kill from Zelenovic and a USA attack error to clinch the match with a third straight 26-24 win.

Mechell Daniel led the way for South Alabama with 15 kills while Symone Stephenson posted seven blocks. The Jaguars hit .217 as a team.

The Trojans return to the floor on Friday when Louisiana-Lafayette visits Trojan Arena for a 7 p.m. match. Admission to all home matches is FREE.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter and Instagram at @TroyAthletics and on Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.