Cason Notches Career High as Trojans Secure Sweep Over Panthers

Saturday, September 26

Troy, Ala.

1 p.m.

Troy University

3-0,3-0Sun Belt

Georgia State

1-4,0-3Sun Belt

Georgia St.

Troy

Cason Notches Career High as Trojans Secure Sweep Over Panthers

9/26/2020 4:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Troy secured its first 3-0 start since 2014 with a sweep over Georgia State Saturday afternoon in Trojan Arena. The Trojans took control of the match early in the first set en route to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-21) victory to earn the series sweep over the Panthers.

Avery Cason made the most of her first appearance this season with a career high 10 kills on .450 hitting. The junior also added two digs and a block to her impressive outing. Cheyenne Hayes led all scorers for the third time this weekend with 18 kills while Julia Brooks tallied 10.

Amara Anderson assisted on 44 of Troy's 49 kills and averaged a whopping 13.7 assists per set over the weekend.

It was a total group effort on defense for Troy with three Trojans finishing with double digit digs. Isabella Mitchell tied a career high with 13 digs while Lacey Jeffcoat also added 13. Ashley Guenveur was the third Trojan in double figures with 10 digs, while Hayes and Anderson each added seven.

"I thought our team came out with a lot of energy after playing two matches the day before," head coach Josh Lauer said. "I was really proud of the consistency we had this weekend. I thought we looked like a good team throughout the entire weekend which was great. It's always exciting to play at home and we had great crowds all three matches."

Set One
The Trojans were dominant throughout the entire set holding Georgia State to -.029 hitting. Halston Hillier had four kills in the first set for the Trojans as Troy hit .333 as a team. Troy raced out to an early 7-3 lead to force an early Panthers timeout and later extended its lead to 14-6 to force the final Georgia State timeout of the set. Julia Brooks iced the set with the final two points as the Trojans won, 25-15.

Set Two
Troy kept its foot on the gas entering the second set, taking a five-point lead into the media timeout after an ace from Natalie Hummel pushed the score to 15-10. Brooks later teamed up with Cason for a block to push the lead to 19-16 to force a Georgia State timeout. The second set continued to be kind to Hayes this weekend as she recorded nine kills while Cason added five in the set. Brooks once again earned set point for the Trojans to push the score to 25-19.

Set Three
Georgia State was the team to step out to the early lead in set three, but it was the Trojans who came back to lead at the media timeout, 15-14. Cason and Hillier then took control of the match with two kills apiece to give Troy a late four-point lead, 19-15. Georgia State managed to pull within one at 20-19, but three Brooks kills in the final seven points quickly put the match out of reach as Troy went on to win, 25-21.

Notable

This is Troy's first 3-0 start since 2014 and just the fifth in the school's DI era (1993).
After entering the weekend trailing in the all-time series against Georgia State, Troy now leads, 19-17.
Avery Cason recorded a career-high 10 kills on .450 hitting in the series finale. Isabella Mitchell tied her career high in digs with 13 on the day.

Up Next
Troy hits the road for the first time this season to Mobile, Ala., for a pair of matches against rival South Alabama Thursday, Oct. 1 and Friday, Oct. 2. First serve for both matches are set for 6 p.m.