Troy Picks Up Sweep in Postseason Debut

Friday, December 6

Atlanta, Ga.

3 PM

Troy University

23-9,10-6Sun Belt

North Carolina A&T

16-15,12-1MEAC

Troy

N.C. A&T

12/6/2019 5:49:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

ATLANTA, Ga. – Troy secured its first postseason win in program history with a sweep over North Carolina A&T Friday evening in O'Keefe Gymnasium. The Trojans got out to a hot start in the first-ever meeting between the two schools en route to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22) victory over the Aggies.

Troy advances to the second round of the NIVC and will play the winner of Georgia Tech and Alabama A&M Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.

Cheyenne Hayes led the Trojans with 15 kills, eight of which came in the opening set. Caitlin Cooper also put together a solid outing finishing with 10 kills on .429 hitting. Amara Anderson tallied 26 assists while running the Trojan offense while Lacey Jeffcoat anchored the defense with a match-high 12 digs.

Troy was solid at the service line throughout the match, finishing with eight aces led by Ashley Guenveur's four.

"We battled a good team this evening," head coach Josh Lauer said. "We served and passed really well tonight and it was the difference in the match. It was a really nice team effort. I told the team before the match, 'let's not be satisfied with just playing in December, let's go win in December.'"

Set One
Troy got off to a fast start in the match, jumping in front 6-0 to force an early Aggie timeout. North Carolina A&T would use a 7-1 run to tie the match at 10-10, however. A kill from Cheyenne Hayes pushed the Trojans' lead back to four at 16-12, but North Carolina A&T wouldn't go away, pulling back within 17-16. Troy finally was able to clinch the set 25-22 on another Hayes kill. Two Trojans had an efficient opening set as Hayes posted eight kills on .667 while Caitlin Cooper tallied four kills on .667 hitting.

Set Two
The second set was tight in the early goings as North Carolina A&T got out to a 3-0 lead before Troy tied it at 3-3. The teams battled to a 10-10 tie before the Trojans took five of the next seven points to lead 15-12 at the media timeout. Troy stretched its lead to four at 19-15 and remained in control throughout the remainder of the set. Hayes' 13^th kill of the match gave the Trojans the win in set two, 25-20.

Set Three
North Carolina A&T stepped in front by two early in the third set, 5-3, but Troy once again responded in a big way. Avery Cason and Halston Hillier teamed up for a block to give Troy a three-point lead before the Trojans pulled away by four at 11-7 to force a North Carolina A&T timeout. Troy found itself with a late three-point lead at 22-19, but the Aggies wouldn't go away. North Carolina A&T used a 3-1 run to cut the Trojan lead to one at 23-22 to force a Troy timeout. The quick reset paid off as the Trojans scored three-straight points out of the timeout to complete the sweep, 25-22.

Up Next
Troy advances to the second round of the NIVC and will play the winner of Georgia Tech and Alabama A&M Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.

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