Cooper, Brooks Push Troy Past South Alabama

Thursday, October 1

Mobile, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

4-0,4-0Sun Belt

South Alabama

0-5,0-1Sun Belt

Troy

South Alabama

Cooper, Brooks Push Troy Past South Alabama

10/1/2020 10:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – Troy downed rival South Alabama in a thrilling five-set match behind big nights from its middles Caitlin Cooper and Julia Brooks. Cooper posted 10 kills on .533 hitting while Brooks tallied 13 kills on .435 hitting en route to a 3-2 (20-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-16, 16-14) Trojan victory Thursday night in Jaguar Gym.

The win marks Troy's first win over South Alabama since 2017 and the Trojans' first 4-0 start since 2003.

Cheyenne Hayes recorded a match-high 14 kills while Avery Cason added eight. Amara Anderson registered 47 assists while Lacey Jeffcoat anchored Troy defensively with 13 digs.

The Trojans struggled with errors at the service line but still managed a season-high eight aces on the night, including a team-high three from Isabella Mitchell.

"I thought we showed a lot of grit, we didn't play our best volleyball tonight," head coach Josh Lauer said. "I thought that South Alabama came out with a really good focus and energy, but I thought our middles carried us tonight. Julia and Caitlin were solid. We made plays when we needed to and that's a sign of a mature team."

Set One
South Alabama was the first team to find their offense Thursday in Jaguar Gym after jumping out to a 5-1 lead before a well-timed kill from Cooper brought the Trojans to life. Troy pulled within one at 9-8 after Cason and Brooks teamed up for a block, but the Jaguars were able to gain a three-point advantage at 16-13 to force a Troy timeout. South Alabama pushed its lead to five at 20-15 and eventually went on to take the set, 25-20. Cooper led the Trojans with four kills while Ashley Guenveur recorded five digs in the opening set.

Set Two
Troy recorded five aces in the second set of the match, two of which came at the hands of Jeffcoat. The Trojans grabbed a quick 5-1 lead to force an early Jaguars timeout, and later pushed the lead to six at 13-7 to force the final South Alabama timeout of the set. Troy didn't take its foot off the gas, however, gaining an 18-11 lead after an ace from Mitchell. The Trojans' fifth ace of the set came from Amara Anderson to clinch the set, 25-15.

Set Three
The two squads battled back-and-forth early with the fourth tie in the set coming at 11-11. Back-to-back kills from Hayes and Hillier broke the deadlock and gave a Troy a 13-11 lead, but South Alabama continued to find responses. The Jaguars and Trojans continued to exchange blows with ties at 17-17, 18-18, 20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 24-24 until South Alabama finally edged Troy 26-24 to take the set. Hayes led the Trojans in the third set with six kills on .364 hitting.

Set Four
South Alabama once again used a fast start to force an early Trojan timeout at 7-2. Troy wouldn't go away, however, and would come back to tie things up at 11 before a Cason kill gave the Trojans their first lead in the set at 12-11. Hillier and Cooper gave Troy a three-point lead at 14-11 to force the final South Alabama timeout of the set. Troy took a commanding 18-12 lead on back-to-back kills from Cason and didn't look back. The Trojans forced a fifth and deciding set with a 25-16 set four victory.

Set Five
Mitchell gave Troy and early 3-1 lead with an ace before the Trojans gained a 5-1 advantage to force a Jaguar timeout. South Alabama clawed back into the set and took their first lead at 7-8. The teams exchanged points until a Brooks kill and a South Alabama attack error gave the Trojans a late two-point lead at 13-11. The Jaguars fended off one match point to tie the set at 14-14 before Troy finally gained a two-point lead to clinch the match, 26-24.

Notable

This marks Troy's first 4-0 start since 2003 and just the second such start in program history.
The Trojans secured their first win over South Alabama since 2017 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and Troy's first regular season win over the Jaguars under coach Josh Lauer.
Troy now only trails by one in the overall series against South Alabama, 26-27. The Trojans improve to 11-14 on the road against the Jaguars.
Cheyenne Hayes has led all scorers in all four of Troy's matches this season.
With 13 digs tonight, Lacey Jeffcoat is just six digs away from her 1,000^th career dig.
Caitlin Cooper recorded her sixth career game hitting over .500 after registering a .533 percentage tonight.