Trojans Gear Up For Midweek Clash With South Alabama

TROY, Al. – It's a battle of in-state rivals Tuesday night as Troy welcomes South Alabama to Trojan Arena at 6 pm for the first of two matchups this year.

Over the weekend, Trojans defeated Georgia Southern in a five-set thriller that saw Amara Anderson record 59 assists, the most of any player in the Sun Belt Conference this year. Cheyenne Hayes also tied Vickie Paciski for second all-time with 1579 kills in her career, and Julia Brooks set a career-high in kills with 24 kills in the match to lead all players.

"It's always fun to play South," head coach Josh Lauer said. "This is an important match for both teams as we head into the last few weeks of the regular season. We are expecting it to be a gritty competitive match and are looking forward to energy and support in Trojan Arena."

The Matchup: Troy (11-8, 4-4) vs. South Alabama (14-6, 7-1)
Where: Troy, Al. – Trojan Arena
When: Friday, October 19 – 6:00 pm.
Live Stats: gotroy.us/3FXuqvW
Live Stream: gotroy.us/3pfrZ1N

Quick Hitters:

Troy is 11-8 on the 2021 season, and 4-4 in Sun Belt play after beating Georgia Southern in five sets and falling to Georgia State. Head coach Josh Lauer is now 67-67 in his career leading the Trojans.
In the match against Coastal Carolina, Amara Anderson became the fourth Trojan in program history to surpass 4,000 career assists. Anderson needs 830 assists to become the Trojan all-time assists leader and only 45 assists to become the all-time leader in the rally-scoring era. She is also 86 digs away from 1000 digs. Anderson would become the fourth Trojan in program history to reach 3000 assists and 1000 digs.
Anderson averages 10.89 assists per set, which sits first in the Sun Belt Conference and 16th in the entire country. Her 784 total assists sit at 8th in the nation.
Julia Brooks has a .300 hitting percentage which puts her fifth among all players in the Sun Belt. Her 3.24 kills per set ranks fifth to go along 3.86 points per set, good enough for fourth among all players in the SBC. She had a career-high 24 kills in the win against Georgia Southern.
Alison Siersma ranks 19^th nationally in aces per set with .50
History: Cheyenne Hayes became the Trojan's all-time leader in kills in the rally-scoring era during Troy's 3-1 match win over Chattanooga earlier in the season, passing Meghan Gilroy. Hayes now has 1579 kills in her career and is 96 kills away from being the all-time leader in Trojan history. Earlier in the year, Cheyenne Hayes became the fifth Trojan in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. She also surpassed 1500 career kills, becoming the only third Trojan ever to reach that mark
Leading the Belt: As a team, Troy ranks first in the conference in kills per set, averaging 13.51, first in assists per set, averaging 12.52. Troy currently ranks 53 in the country in assists (12.35), 63 in kills per set (13.32)

Know your opponent:
South Alabama (14-6, 7-1): South Alabama holds a 48-31 all-time lead over Troy in a series from October 19, 1974. The Trojans carry a two-game series win streak into Tuesday's contest after defeating the Jaguars in a pair of matches in Troy, Ala., last season. USA and Troy also split a pair of games at Jag Gym earlier in the 2020 season. South Alabama is 19- 15 all-time at Troy, with its last win in Troy coming on November 8, 2019, in four sets. The Jaguars have lost one conference game all year and hold Sun Belt opponents to the second-lowest hitting percentage (.153) and second-lowest kills per set (11.49). The Panthers' Kennedy Wallace leads the conference in hitting percentage connecting on .376 of all attempts.

Trojans Gear Up For Midweek Clash With South Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Amara Anderson

Julia Brooks

Cheyenne Hayes

Alison Siersma

Troy University Athletics