Troy University Athletics
Troy University
7-8,2-3Sun Belt
Georgia Southern
13-1,3-0Sun Belt
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy | 22 | 17 | 20 | 0 |
| Ga. Southern | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Troy Falls in Three Sets to Georgia Southern
10/10/2024 8:28:00 PM | Volleyball
STATESBORO, Ga. – Tori Hester had one of her better offensive performances of the season on Thursday night, but it wasn't enough to slow down Georgia Southern, who came away with a 3-0 win at the Hanner Fieldhouse.
Troy (7-8, 2-3 SBC) got 20 kills from Hester on an efficient .326 hitting clip (20-6-43). It was Hester's 37th straight match with double-digit kills, which is the longest known active streak in DI women's volleyball. With the performance, Hester now sits 13 kills shy of 1,500.
Her 20 kills is tied for the third most in program history for a three set match.
Despite the strong performance from Hester, the Trojan offense had no answer for the Georgia Southern (13-1, 3-0 SBC) defense which held Troy to a hitting clip of .096 (34-23-115).
The Eagles didn't hit much better, sitting at .188 (33-14-101), but got a strong performance from the reigning AVCA National Player of the Week, Reagan Barth, who had a team-high 11 kills and a match-high five aces. The Trojan's defense out-blocked the Eagles 10-6, but it wasn't quite enough.
Audrey Worthington led all players with six blocks, while Hester had five. Both marks tied their career-highs. In serving, Troy had six aces but also committed nine errors.
Set 1: Georgia Southern 25-22
The Trojans came out strong to open the match as it quickly jumped out to a 7-3 lead. The Eagles responded with a 5-0 run to take a one point lead. While the Trojans did tie it up throughout the set, the never held the lead again. With the score tied 17-17, Georgia Southern went on a 5-0 run to make it 22-17 and the Trojans couldn't dig out of the hole. The Eagles clinched the set on a Troy service error.
It was Troy's best offensive set as it hit .189 (12-5-37). Hester had eight of her kills in the first set, while four Trojans added one of their own. The defense also held the Eagles to .154 hitting (13-7-39). The difference in the set was the serving as Troy had two aces and three errors, while Georgia Southern had four aces and one error.
Set 2: Georgia Southern 25-17
Georgia Southern scored the first point of the set, and led the rest of the way. The Eagles started to hit its offensive stride as it record a hitting clip of .259 (10-3-27), while holding Troy to .027 (10-9-37). Hester record seven of Troy's kills, while Kalina Calvillo recorded the other two.
The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the match on an ace by Barth.
Set 3: Georgia Southern 25-20
Troy won the first point of the set, but its lead lasted just one play as Georgia Southern won the next two points and never surrendered its lead. Butler led the Trojans with six kills in the set, while Hester had five. As a team, Troy hit .073 (12-9-41) while Georgia Southern hit .171 (10-4-35).
Georgia Southern clinched its 12th straight win on a block by Maggie Sale and Jillian Gray.
Quotable: head coach Josh Lauer
"Georgia Southern played more consistent and efficient than us tonight. We had some highlights but were a little too high-error tonight to be successful. Tori played really well tonight and I hope we can build on that and make some adjustments for another competitive match tomorrow."
Up Next
Troy returns to the court on Friday at 5 p.m. for its second match against Georgia Southern. It will be broadcast on ESPN+, with stats available on Troystats.com.
Notables
• After recording a match-high 20 kills, Tori Hester has recorded double-digit kills in 37 straight matches dating back to last season, which is the longest known active streak in Division I Women's Volleyball.
• Tori Hester is just the fifth player in program history to record 20 kills in a three-set match, which is tied for third in program history. Meghan Gilroy holds the record with 22, which was set on Oct. 10, 2009.
• Amiah Butler was second on the team in kills with eight.
• Freshman Kayla Baetzel appeared in the first game of her collegiate career, after entering in the third set. She recorded two serves.
• Troy is now 8-18 all-time against Georgia Southern.
