Trojans Survive Wild Fifth Set to Advance to Semifinals

Friday, November 18

Foley, Ala.

12 p.m.

Troy University

18-11,11-5Sun Belt

Arkansas State

9-22,2-14Sun Belt

Arkansas St.

Troy

Trojans Survive Wild Fifth Set to Advance to Semifinals

11/18/2022 3:24:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

FOLEY, Ala. – Down 14-11 in the fifth set, the Trojans fought off a total of four match points as Caroline Darracott layed out for a dig allowing freshman Jaci Mesa set up Tori Hester for her 19^th kill of the match to help send Troy to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The five-set thriller ended 20-25, 25-18, 25-14, 17-25, 17-15 over Arkansas State Friday afternoon.

With the win, the Trojans will now head to the semifinals for the third time in four years.

"First off, I want to congratulate Arkansas State," head coach Josh Lauer said. "They played terrific and gave fans of volleyball a great match today. I'm very proud of our team's resilience. We let our play drop in the fourth set but never gave up and played every point until the very end. Halston Hillier and Tori Hester carried us throughout the match, and our serving was a difference-maker down the stretch. Very reminiscent of 2019. I'm very thankful to survive and advance."

Amara Anderson continued her historic season as she moved into second place all-time in Sun Belt Conference history in career assists after finishing the match with a match-high 53 assists.

Following Hester's lead, a trio of Trojans helped lead the Troy (18-11) offensive attack as Julia Brooks added 13 kills with a .333 hitting percentage. Halston Hillier added 12, and freshman Amiah Butler put down 15 kills.

This marks Troy's third win this season over the Red Wolves, who were led by Macey Putt, who recorded 19 kills, and Sarah Martinez, who had a match-high 22 digs.

Set One: Despite more attack attempts and kills from the Trojans, Arkansas State took the first set. Hester did everything she could with seven kills and a .333 hitting percentage. A four-point run wiped out an early Troy run by the Red Wolves to tie it at 9-9. Arkansas State would take the lead after and not look back, jumping out to a lead as large as seven. A late Trojan push was not enough, as the Red Wolves won the first set.

Set Two: The Trojans quickly erased a 4-4 tie as they scored seven straight points to break open the set and never looked back. After hitting .189 in the first set, the Trojans responded by hitting .306. Mesa finished off the set with an ace as Troy evened the match.

Set Three: The Trojans carried the momentum from the second set into the third as Troy again broke open the set with seven straight points. The Trojans doubled the Red Wolves in kills finishing with 14 to their seven, hitting .423 as a team in the set. Savannah Poling was strong defensively all afternoon as she had two blocks in the set and finished the day with seven, matching her career high.

Set Four: Arkansas would not go quietly; however, after four tie scores and a lead change, the Red Wolves found themselves up eight points at 21-13. The deficit would be too great to overcome for the Trojans as the match would head into a fifth and final set.

Set Five: Troy had jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but the Red Wolves managed to tie it at 8-8. Trailing 11-10, Arkansas State had scored four straight points to get to match point. The Trojans used two kills from Butler and an error to tie once more. Butler again saved off another match point at 15-14 to tie it as another error gave Troy the advantage before Hester sealed the victory.

Up Next: The Trojans' next match will come in the semifinals tomorrow, November 19, at 2:30 p.m. as they await the winner of the James Madison and Georgia Southern match.