Comeback Pushes Troy Past South Alabama in Five Sets

Friday, October 30

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

5-4,5-4Sun Belt

South Alabama

8-9,8-5Sun Belt

South Alabama

Troy

Comeback Pushes Troy Past South Alabama in Five Sets

10/30/2020 10:29:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Behind a comeback that was highlighted by a 25-17 victory in the fourth set and a 15-11 victory in the decisive fifth set, Troy defeated in-state rival South Alabama 3-2 (20-25, 25-19, 14-25, 25-17, 15-11) Friday night at Trojan Arena.

In the victory, freshman Tori Hester turned in her first career double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs to go along with four aces, three assists and a block. Sophomore Julie Brooks hit a team-best .370 and contributed a 15-kill evening while Cheyenne Hayes also notched double-digit kills with 13 on the night.

Junior Amara Anderson also shined Friday night for the Trojans (5-4 Overall, 5-4 SBC), as the Georgia native hit the 50-assist mark in a match for the 17th time in her Troy career. Lacey Jeffcoat tallied 20 kills for the fifth time this season and fourth time in the last five matches.

Set One
Caitlin Cooper got the Trojans on the board first, but it was a kill from Julia Brooks that gave Troy its first lead of the match at 4-3. A 3-0 scoring run put the Jaguars back on top before Cooper's second kill of the match put a stop to the run. South Alabama pushed its lead to four at 13-9 to force a Troy timeout before the Trojans responded with a 6-2 run to prompt the first Jaguar timeout of the set. After the Jaguars gained a late three-point advantage at 21-18 that forced Troy's final timeout of the set, South won three of the next five points to take the opening set 25-20.

Set Two
After falling behind early 5-3, the Trojans used a 10-4 spurt to take a 13-9 advantage midway through the second set. After a singular Jaguar point brought the score to 13-10 in favor of the Trojans, Troy scored four of the next five to take a decisive 17-11 lead. Following the final timeout of the set for South Alabama, Troy scored five of the next eight to increase the margin to 22-15. South scored four of the next five to cut the Troy lead to 23-19. Needing to regain the momentum, Troy put the set away on back-to-back points from Brooks (kill) and Hester (service ace).

Set Three
South Alabama started fast in set three, racing out to a 6-1 lead aided by three early aces. The Jaguars pushed their lead to 8-2 and later to 12-2 to force both of Troy's timeouts in the third set. The Trojans showed signs of life and used a 6-2 run to force a Jaguar timeout at 20-9, but it wouldn't be enough, as the visitors promptly scored five of the next 10 points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set Four
After splitting the first four points with the Jaguars, Troy responded with an 11-3 run to take a 13-5 lead. The Trojans earned their largest lead of the night at 19-10 before South Alabama took four of the next six points to cut the Troy lead to 21-14. Troy answered with three-straight points highlighted by back-to-back kills from Brooks and Hayes that gave Troy a 24-14 lead. Following three straight points from the visitors, Brooks used one last kill to end the set, 25-17.

Set Five
Troy gained a quick two-point lead behind an early ace from Tabitha Wheeler to lead at 3-1. South Alabama wouldn't go away, however, and came back to tie the match at five points apiece. Troy, behind strong serving from Hester, won seven of the next nine points to take a 12-7 lead. After splitting the next four points, South Alabama took their second and final timeout facing a 14-9 deficit. The timeout seemed to work, as the Jaguars won the next two points to cut the Troy lead to 14-11, but Hayes connected on a set from Anderson an delivered a kill to seal the victory.

Notable

Troy improves to 13-11 all-time at home against South Alabama, and 27-28 in the 55 all-time matchups.
The Trojans have now won two of the first three matches against South this season.
Freshman Tori Hester recorded her first double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs on the night.
Tonight's victory marks just the 12th time in the Lauer era that the Trojans won the match after dropping the first set.
All three matchups against the Jaguars this season have gone a full five sets.

Up Next
Troy will look to win the season series against the Jaguars tomorrow afternoon. First serve from Trojan Arena is set for 1 p.m.