Troy Volleyball Falters in Four-Set Battle to South Carolina

Sunday, September 3

Columbia, S.C.

12 p.m.

Troy University

0-5

South Carolina

4-1

Troy

South Carolina

Troy Volleyball Falters in Four-Set Battle to South Carolina

9/3/2023 3:26:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)

By: Troy Athletics Communications

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Despite Julia Brooks leading the game with 18 kills and Troy winning its first set of 2023, the team ultimately fell short in a 3-1 battle to the end against South Carolina on Sunday afternoon to conclude the Carolina Classic.

"I'm really proud of our team's effort this weekend," head coach Josh Lauer said. "We continue to compete hard against really good teams. Our focus is to get better each week, and that is without a doubt happening."

The Trojans (0-5) won numerous statistical battles, including attacks (142-128), kills (55-51) and set assists (52-49) as they fought through their fourth power-five opponent of 2023. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks (4-1) roll through for their fourth straight victory, sweeping the Carolina Classic.

The three-headed monster of Brooks, Tori Hester and Amiah Butler tallied double-digit kills with 18, 14 and 13, respectively. Brooks wouldn't be denied as the only player with 20-plus points (20.5). Sydney Austin and Janelle Stuempfig also contributed as they combined for 14 blocks.

Set One: Troy ended a 16-point drought from 2022 early in the match, taking its first lead of the season, 1-0. The momentum shifted when Brooks and Olivia Grantham combined for a 4-0 run to tie take a 7-6 lead after back-to-back services aces by Grantham and a kill by Brooks.

The Gamecocks hung around, but for every run they made, the Trojans matched and more. Troy's largest lead of the set came after a block by Brooks and Stuempfig to give the Trojans match point, 24-20. A breath of life for USC crashed quickly after Brooks secured the set on her fifth kill, 25-20.

Set Two: The second set was all Gamecocks from the start, scoring the first five points, 5-0. Troy battled its way back to a one-point set, 9-8, after a service error by Lauren McCutcheon for South Carolina. That was as close as it got as the Gamecocks extended the lead to 10, 22-12, before securing the 25-16 victory.

Set Three: Both teams went back and forth to claim the 2-1 lead as the largest lead of the set came after an attack error by Hester, 13-9. Troy came back strong to take a two-point lead, 18-16, following two blocks by Austin and a kill by Butler. USC called a critical timeout to regain composure and score six of the following nine points to earn a 23-20 lead.

Hester aimed to bring Troy back, laying down a kill from Stuempfig and blocking the attack from Campbell Paris with Brooks to pull within one, 23-22. Service errors ended the set, following a kill by USC to end the match in favor of the Gamecocks, 25-23.

Set Four: The final set continued the intensity of the third as neither team could pull farther than four points from each other. With the score tied 10-10, South Carolina jumped on a 5-1 run, capitalizing on two attack errors by Butler to force a media timeout.

Butler redeemed herself out of the break, regaining the momentum for Troy with her second kill of the set – ended the set with four – and trimmed USC's lead to one, 15-14. A brief two-point run by the Gamecocks was met with three straight kills for Troy to tie the set 17-17: twice by Hester and once by Sophie Sparks.

The match looked over with the Gamecocks pulling to match point, 24-22, on a kill by McCutcheon, until Austin brought Troy back, 24-24, with her second kill and seventh block. Butler added to the momentum, taking the 25-24 lead with her 13^th kill. However, the Gamecocks didn't panic, silencing the Trojans with three straight points, 27-25, to end the match, 3-1.