Troy Drops First Match of Billiken Invitational

Friday, September 13

St. Louis, Mo.

6:00 PM

Troy University

5-2

Saint Louis

5-2

Troy

Saint Louis

Troy Drops First Match of Billiken Invitational

9/13/2019 8:19:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Troy's three match winning streak was snapped Friday night as the Trojans fell in four sets to St. Louis in the first match of the Billiken Invitational. The Trojans got off to a hot start by taking the first set over the Billikens, but eventually fell, 1-3 (25-21, 19-25, 23-25, 18-25).

Troy's focus on serving was evident tonight as the Trojans (5-2) finished with 10 aces, led by Lacey Jeffcoat with 4. Jeffcoat was also force in the back row, totaling 19 digs on the night. Halston Hillier led the Troy offense with 10 kills.

"We competed hard tonight," head coach Josh Lauer said. "Saint Louis was more efficient offensively and that was the difference in the match. I thought we served really well and our defensive effort was really high. Lacey Jeffcoat was outstanding tonight."

How It Happened
It was a true team effort in the opening set of the match as Hillier, Cheyenne Hayes and Jenni Young each recorded three kills. The Trojans found themselves with a 22-18 lead late in the set, but Saint Louis would make things interesting with back-to-back points to pull within 22-20.

A timely Troy timeout propelled the Trojans to take three of the next four points to clinch set one, 25-21. Troy was hot once again from the service line with three aces in the first set.

Ashley Guenveur opened the scoring for the Trojans in set two with back-to-back aces, but Saint Louis would respond by jumping out to a 19-13 lead. Troy would pull within 20-18, but eventually drop the set, 25-19.

Troy fell into an early hole in the third set but climbed back to make things interesting at 22-23. The Billikens, however, would take two of the next three points to take the third set, 23-25.

St. Louis jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the final set and didn't look back en route to clinching the match with a 25-18 victory in set four.

Up Next
Day two of the Billiken Invitational sees Troy squaring off with UT Martin (10 a.m.) and Marshall (5 p.m.) Saturday in St. Louis.