Late Set Heroics Not Enough as Troy Falls Short Against Coastal Carolina

Thursday, October 22

Conway, S.C.

5 p.m.

Troy University

4-3,4-3Sun Belt

Coastal Carolina

8-0,8-0Sun Belt

Troy

Coastal Carolina

Late Set Heroics Not Enough as Troy Falls Short Against Coastal Carolina

10/22/2020 8:21:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Hester Impresses in Her First Career Start; Hayes, Anderson Post Double-Doubles

By: Troy Athletics Communications

CONWAY, S.C. – Troy's late-set heroics fell just short Thursday night at the HTC Center as the Trojans fell to Coastal Carolina in five sets, 3-2 (25-17, 24-26, 25-23, 25-16, 16-14). The Trojans (4-3, 4-3 SBC) overcame an 18-9 deficit to win the second set and the swing the match on its head, and fought off two match points in the fifth set, but ultimately dropped a heartbreaker to the Chanticleers (8-0, 8-0 SBC).

Tori Hester made the best of her first career start, registering 13 kills, seven digs, three blocks and an ace – all career-bests. Cheyenne Hayes (21 K/11 DG) and Amara Anderson (39 AS/13 DG) each posted double-doubles in the loss. Anderson also posted five kills on .385 hitting.

Julia Brooks tied a career high with seven total blocks to go along with six kills on .353 hitting, while Halston Hillier recorded five kills and four digs. Lacey Jeffcoat registered her second 20-dig outing of the day with 26 digs in the nightcap while Natalie Hummel added six digs of her own.

Ani Bozdeva (18), Anett Nemeth (17), and Jelena Prolic (13) all recorded double digit kills as Coastal Carolina hit .230 as a squad. Setter Brigitta Petrenko posted a double-double with 49 assists and 17 digs on the night.

"It was a hard-fought match tonight," head coach Josh Lauer said. "Coastal Carolina made a few more plays down the stretch, but I was proud of our entire team effort and competitive composure today. Impressive double-doubles for Cheyenne and Amara, and back-to-back 20-dig matches for Lacey; and I thought Tori Hester played very well in her first start. Natalie Hummel and Halston Hillier also gave us very consistent contributions."

Set One
Hester got things rolling with the Trojans' first kill of the match, giving Troy a quick 2-1 lead. Coastal Carolina led by four at 9-5, but blocks from Hillier and Caitlin Cooper and a solo block from Brooks pulled the Trojans back to within two at 10-8. The Chanticleers extended their lead to five at 18-13 to force a Troy timeout. Hillier came out of the timeout with a kill for the Trojans, but back-to-back Coastal Carolina kills forced another Troy timeout at 20-14. The Chanticleer attackers were too much for the Trojans as they hit .389 as a squad and secured set one, 25-17. Hester paced Troy offensively with four kills in the opening set.

Set Two
Coastal Carolina began the second set right where it left off the first set and jumped out to an 11-3 lead to force an early Trojan timeout. After its second timeout at 18-9, Troy got back into the set with a 7-0 run capped off by a block from Brooks and Anderson to pull the Trojans within two at 18-16. Three quick points from Coastal Carolina out of the break quickly extended the Chanticleer lead back to five, however. Back-to-back kills from Hayes, followed by a block from Cooper, pulled Troy back to within two at 23-21. Troy fended off three Chanticleer set points and closed on a 5-0 to take set two, 26-24.

Set Three
The teams exchanged blows early until an ace from Anderson gave Troy a two-point advantage at 8-6. A block from Hester and Cooper pushed the Trojans' lead to three at 10-7 to force a Coastal Carolina timeout. The two sides saw ties at 10-10, 11-11, 13-13, 16-16 and 17-17 until Troy used a 3-0 run to step in front, 20-17. A kill from Brooks followed by a Coastal Carolina attack error extended the Troy lead to five at 23-18 before the Chanticleers pulled back to within three at 23-20 to force a Trojan timeout. A kill from Anderson eventually clinched the set for Troy, 25-23.

Set Four
Coastal Carolina responded well after dropping back-to-back sets for the first time this season and opened the fourth set with an 8-4 lead. Troy called its first timeout of the set after falling behind 14-9, but the Chanticleers extended their lead to eight at 19-11 to force the Trojans' final timeout of the set. A 4-0 Troy run out of the timeout pulled the Trojans to within four at 19-15, but the deficit was too large for Troy to overcome this time. Coastal Carolina hit .333 en route to taking the fourth set, 25-16.

Set Five
The two sides exchanged points back-and-forth early until Coastal Carolina was able to gain a two-point advantage at 9-7 to force a Troy timeout. Hester was able to tie things up for the Trojans with a kill at 10-10, but the Chanticleers quickly stepped back in front, 13-11. Troy was able to fend off two match points to tie the deciding set at 14-14, but ultimately dropped a heartbreaker, 16-14.

Notable

Troy falls to 6-8 all time and 1-6 on the road against Coastal Carolina.
This marked the first time all season the Chanticleers dropped two sets in a single match. Coastal Carolina had dropped just two sets combined in its previous seven matches.
Troy falls to 1-1 in five-set matches this season.
Freshman Tori Hester posted 13 kills, seven digs, three blocks and an ace – all career bests – in her first career start.
Amara Anderson recorded her third double-double of the season with 39 assists and 13 digs. Cheyenne Hayes posted her first double-double of the year with a match-high 21 kills and 11 digs.
Julia Brooks tied a career high with seven total blocks (also had seven in 2019 vs. Alabama State).
Cheyenne Hayes has played in 103 career matches, which is tied for the fourth-most among all active Division I players.