Troy University Athletics
Troy Volleyball Historic Seasons: 1983 Gulf South Champions
4/16/2020 12:46:00 PM | Volleyball
By Malinda Ashcraft
1983 GSC Champion team member
"Magic" was the word I kept running into when I began gathering details and collecting quotes concerning the 1983 Gulf Coast Conference champion Troy volleyball team.Â
I suppose a little of the magic from those days has remained in the hearts and minds of the once-young-and-hopeful women who experienced that Cinderella season. Though most have forgotten the scores, the stories and relationships have remained.Â
The magic still weaves through our memories.
Part of the magic was the unity Coach Ginger Sprague (Lowe) brought to an unlikely collection of senior leadership and youthful innocents who shared a simple desire to be part of something special. When asked to describe their team, the words "family," "heart" and "work" defined a closeness that, in itself, was magical. Â
The 24-14 team headed for Martin, Tenn., as the third seed in the Gulf South Conference Tournament that year. The Trojans played UT-Martin in the first round on a Friday afternoon. They fell to the host team in a brawl that lasted two hours and 40 minutes. Fifteen minutes later, they were on the court again against rival Jacksonville State knowing that the loser would be eliminated from the tournament.
The match went to five games, another two hour-plus battle that ended with Troy on top. Thirty minutes later, they defeated West Georgia before calling it a day. Â
"We were in the gym for 10 hours," Lowe confessed. "We were exhausted and sore."
Saturday morning, the Trojans again faced off against UT-Martin. The victory celebration was brief, however, because the team then advanced to the final round against perennial champion North Alabama, which had played just one match the prior afternoon to advance. The Trojans lost to UNA during the season. They now had to defeat the Lady Lions twice in the same day to become Gulf South Conference champions.
In a grueling match, Troy showed such heart that they earned the admiration and respect of everyone in the stands, both fans and foes alike. They defeated UNA in yet another two-hour, five-game contest. After just a 30-minute Coke and Snickers bar break, both teams suited up and went at it again. Â Â Â Â
The rest is now history.
The Trojans went on to defeat UNA for the championship in a four-game match. All together, it took 26 games over 17 hours in just a day and a half for the Trojans to claim the title of "Champion."
The 1983 team shares the memory of a time when dreams became real and all was right with the world. Â
The players' eyes still hold some of the magic when they have occasion to get together, laugh at their old photos and reminisce about the "good ol' days."Â Â
Where are they now? They are teachers, coaches, moms, business professionals, scientists and ministers. Each has sought to give a little of the magic back in their own corner of the world, to share their faith and "heart magic" that was woven into the tapestry of a year to remember.
1983 Record
Overall: 29-15 | Gulf South: 9-4 | Home: 5-1 | Away: 6-6 | Neutral: 18-8
Gulf South Tournament Results
at UT-Martin | L, 2-3
vs. Jacksonville State | W, 3-2
vs. West Georgia | W, 3-0
at UT-Martin | W, 3-1
vs. North Alabama | W, 3-2
vs. North Alabama | W, 3-1