Troy Upends Arkansas State in Comeback Fashion

Friday, November 22

San Marcos, Texas

5 PM

Troy University

22-8,10-6Sun Belt

Arkansas State University

17-13,7-9Sun Belt

Arkansas St.

Troy

Troy Upends Arkansas State in Comeback Fashion

11/22/2019 9:12:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Troy upended Arkansas State in a five-set comeback Friday night in quarterfinal action at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Trojans overcame a 2-1 deficit and fended off five Red Wolves match points to advance, 3-2 (26-24, 20-25, 13-25, 25-21, 19-17).

Troy (22-8, 10-6 Sun Belt) advances to its second semifinal in school history, and first since 2012, behind a career-high 29 digs from Lacey Jeffcoat. The win marks the Trojans' 22^nd win of the season which the third most in program history and most since 1995 (27-11).

Five Trojans finished with double-digit kills for the second-straight match with Halston Hillier and Ashley Guenveur leading the way with 15 kills apiece. Cheyenne Hayes (13), Julia Brooks (12) and Caitlin Cooper (10) rounded out Troy's well-balanced attack. Hayes and Guenveur each posted a double-double with 15 and 12 digs, respectively.

Troy's blocking came up big in key moments as the Trojans finished with a season-high 11 blocks, led by Brooks' six. Amara Anderson once again proved that she is one of the best setters in the country, finishing with 58 assists and a key fifth-set ace.

"I'm really proud of our resilience tonight, it was a complete team effort" head coach Josh Lauer said. "Lacey was outstanding with her career night defensively and Amara's composure kept us steady through an offensive roller coaster type of night. Our balance offensively paid off and we had great energy from our bench which paid huge dividends for our team."

Set One
Arkansas State got off to a hot start in the match, taking an early 4-1 lead. Hillier and Brooks brought the Trojans to life with a block to cut the Red Wolves lead to 4-2. Arkansas State took a 13-11 lead but a 4-1 Trojan run, including three kills from Brooks, gave Troy a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. The Red Wolves regained a two-point advantage at 22-20 before Troy went on a gritty 3-0 run to retake the lead at 23-22. The Trojans went on to win the set 26-24 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Set Two
It was Troy that got off to the hot start in set two, jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead. The Red Wolves would claw back and take a 15-11 lead into the media timeout, however. Troy cut the Arkansas State lead to three at 20-17, but two quick points by the Red Wolves pushed it back to five at 22-17. The Trojans fought back once again to pull within two at 22-20 but the Arkansas State lead was too much to overcome and the Red Wolves clinched the set, 25-20.

Set Three
The Trojans fell into an early 7-0 hole in the third set and wouldn't be able to climb out of it. Arkansas State kept its foot on the gas pedal throughout the entire set, extending its lead to 12 at 14-2. Troy finally got some offense going late in the set, but ultimately fell, 25-13.

Set Four
Arkansas State once again gained the early advantage, but Troy would fight back to take a 9-7 lead to force the first timeout of the set. The Trojans took an 18-14 lead after Ashley Guenveur recorded an ace but quickly saw it evaporate after 4-0 Arkansas State run. Troy found its groove again, however, scoring six of the final eight points to force a fifth set, 25-21.

Set Five
The teams exchanged blows early in the final set of the match, but it was Troy that held the advantage at the halfway point, 8-7. Arkansas State scored three-straight points out of the media timeout and would later push its lead to three at 12-9. The Trojans found themselves facing elimination at a 14-10 deficit but fended off four-straight match points to tie it up, 14-14. Troy faced yet another Red Wolves match point at 16-15, but a kill from Cooper drew the teams even once again. Anderson followed that up with a key ace to give the Trojans a 17-16 lead. Arkansas State had an answer to tie the match at 17-17, but Troy finally gained a two-point advantage to complete the comeback, 19-17.

Up Next
Troy advances to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament to take on No. 1 seed and regular season champions Texas State. First serve for that match is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.