Troy University Athletics
Troy University
15-12,12-4Sun Belt
App State
14-15,4-12Sun Belt
Troy Cruises Past App State to Head to Quarterfinals
11/16/2023 9:14:00 PM | Volleyball
FOLEY, Ala. – Troy cruised past App State in straight sets, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-16), to head to the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Thursday evening at the Foley Events Center.
Defensively, Troy (15-12, 12-4) held its own at the net, grabbing 10 blocks, with four coming from the first set alone. Conversely, the Mountaineers (14-15, 4-10) recorded seven blocks and 31 kills.
Set one started with both teams battling at the net defensively with blocks. Julia Brooks and Amiah Butler slammed down back-to-back kills to get the offense going and gave Troy an early 13-11 lead. McCall Denny managed one kill to bring the Mountaineers within one at 15-14. Troy then went on a run behind three Tori Hester kills and Mountaineer errors to extend its lead to 21-15 before Brooks capped set one with a block assist and a kill, giving Troy a 1-0 advantage.
App State got off to a hot start in set two with an ace from Alyssa McBean and kills from Maya Winterhoff and Denny for a 4-1 lead. Troy battled back to tie it up with a block from Sydney Austin and Janelle Stuempfig at 5-5. With the two squads fighting within a point of each other, a full team effort by the Trojans sparked a 6-0 run to push the advantage to five, 18-13. Lulu Ambrose nabbed a kill to bring the deficit back to four points, 20-16, and Denny tried to start a late rally for App State when she laid down back-to-back kills at 23-20. However, after one more Mountaineer point, Butler closed the door with back-to-back kills to put Troy one point from the victory.
Troy flipped the script for set three, taking a 6-2 lead with a pair of Mountaineer errors and two kills by Butler and Hester. App State trimmed the deficit to three, 10-7, before an offensive spark capped off with a Brooks kill erupted to an 18-10 lead. App State battled back behind five kills, three from Winterhoff at 22-16. In the end, Hester's ace sealed the match and advanced Troy to the quarterfinal round, 25-16.
Quote from Head Coach Josh Lauer
"We did an excellent job out of the gate. We had great service pressure. We executed our scout from the start of the match, which was fun to see. We got great contributions from our wing defenders. Caroline and Jaci did a great job anchoring our defense. Tori and Amiah took great swings tonight and Julia was stable. We got solid, consistent play out of everyone tonight. Janelle made excellent decisions tonight. Our serving was on point tonight, the difference maker in the match for us."
Up Next:
With the victory, Troy will face James Madison in the quarterfinal matchup. The match is set for 4:30 p.m. and will premiere on ESPN+.
The first and only time Troy faced James Madison was last year at the Sun Belt Championship in the semifinals. James Madison walked away with the victory, 3-2.
Stat Leaders
Kills: Tori Hester – 17
Assists: Janelle Stuempfig – 30
Digs: Jaci Mesa and Tori Hester – 10
Blocks: Julia Brooks – 6
Aces: Janelle Stuempfig – 2
Notes
- Meleah Howe got her first career start, where she recorded one block and two kills.
- In program history, Troy has advanced to the Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals 11 times.
- Troy moved to 8-11 in Sun Belt Conference Tournament play.
- Tomorrow marks the fourth straight quarterfinal appearance for the Trojans (obverts 2020 due to the removal of a quarterfinal round), having advanced to the semifinals in 2-of-3.
- Since Josh Lauer arrived at Troy in 2017, the team is 6-7 in the Sun Belt Tournament.
- The Trojans won the kill battle, outdoing App State 43-31 – peaked in set two with 18 on a .429 kill percentage. \
