Volleyball Falls at Georgia Southern

Friday, November 12

Statesboro, Ga.

5 p.m.

Troy University

15-11,8-7Sun Belt

Georgia Southern

16-9,9-6Sun Belt

Troy

Ga. Southern

11/12/2021 7:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

By: Troy Athletics Communications

STATESBORO, Ga. – On the final weekend of the regular season, Troy dropped its first match on a swing through the Peach State with a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 27-25, 25-21) setback at the hands of Georgia Southern Friday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse in a tightly contested matchup.

Julia Brooks was dominant throughout the evening with 15 kills and just four errors on 27 attack attempts (.407 hitting percentage) for the Trojans (15-11, 8-7 Sun Belt). Tori Hester added 10 kills and 12 digs, and Cheyenne Hayes finished with nine kills and eight digs. Hayes pushed her career total to 1,616 kills which is just 28 shy of supplanting her as Troy's all-time leader; the Trojans have a minimum of two matches left depending on their fate in the Sun Belt Tournament for Hayes to break the record.

"We took a very tough loss tonight," head coach Josh Lauer said. "We will need to regroup quickly and prepare for another competitive match tomorrow."

Amara Anderson finished with a match-high 44 assists and added nine digs, while Carolina Darracott had a match-high 19 digs for the Trojans.

Georgia Southern (16-9, 9-6) moved a game ahead of Troy in the standings with one match to play; the Eagles draw South Alabama (20-6, 14-1) to close out league play Saturday. Hannah McGlockton posted a match-high 17 kills to lead the Eagles, while Madison Brown had 40 assists and Rebekah Farthing posted 10 digs.

First Set: After battling back-and-forth through the early points, Troy raced out to a 14-10 lead thanks to a 7-3 run capped by a kill from Hayes. The Eagles fought back to tie the opening frame at 19-19 before scoring six of the final nine points to take the opening set.

Second Set: A block by Caitlin Cooper and Halston Hillier put the Trojans on top 10-6, and Troy wouldn't trail over the remainder of the second set. Troy led by as many as five in the frame multiple times, and an Eagles' service error pushed the set in Troy's favor, 25-20.

Third Set: Momentum was on Troy's side early in the third set as a kill by Tori Hester gave the Trojans a 7-point edge, 10-3, early in the frame. The Trojans' lead reached as many as nine, 13-4, before the Eagles mounted a comeback. Trailing 17-12, Georgia Southern scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 20-19 lead. From that point on, the teams traded the next 12 points before a Baylor Bumford kill gave Georgia Southern a 27-25 win.

Fourth Set: The Eagles took control of the deciding set early with a quick 4-1 lead which eventually stretched out to a 20-11 advantage before the Trojans fought back. Behind the serve of Darracott, Troy rolled off six straight points to close the game to pull within three, 20-17. However, after Troy's run, Georgia Southern built a 23-19 advantage and won the set 25-21 to clinch the match.

Up Next: Troy wraps up the regular season Saturday at Georgia State. First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. (CT) as the Trojans look to avenger an earlier loss to the Panthers.