Troy Volleyball Defeated by Arkansas State in Five Sets

Thursday, October 24

Jonesboro, Ark.

6 p.m.

Troy University

8-11,3-6Sun Belt

Arkansas State

17-4,7-2Sun Belt

Troy

Arkansas St.

Troy Volleyball Defeated by Arkansas State in Five Sets

10/24/2024 10:17:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

JONESBORO, Ark. – After winning the first two sets, Troy couldn't find the elusive third set as Arkansas State stormed back to defeat the Trojans 3-2 at the First National Bank Arena on Thursday night.

Troy (8-11, 3-6 SBC) came out of the gates strong and capitalized on Arkansas State's (17-4, 7-2 SBC) errors in the first two sets, but the Red Wolves settled into a more efficient offense as the night progressed and the Trojans struggled to keep pace.

While the Trojans won the ace battle 9-3, they also committed 14 errors while the Red Wolves had just six. The Trojans have 10 or more service errors in each of its last three losses.

Tori Hester led all players with 21 kills on .141 hitting. Her 71 attacks are a season high for a Trojan individual. Hester has recorded 20 or more kills in four of the last five matches and extended her double-digit kill streak to 41 matches. It remains the longest known active streak in Division I women's volleyball. She also had a season-high 15 digs en route to her eighth double-double of the season. She is just 96 kills off the program record of 1,666 set by Cheyenne Hayes.

The Trojans also got double-digit kills from Amiah Butler (13), Olivia Kwiatkowski (11) and Kalina Calvillo (10). Freshman Ashlynn Axtell made her collegiate debut and started all five sets for Troy. She had two kills and three blocks.

Arkansas State won the blocking battle 18-7 and got 17 kills from Daedrianna Cail.

Set 1: Troy 25-20
Troy trailed for much of the first set, as Arkansas State seemed in control early. The Trojans found themselves down 19-16, before going on a 5-0 run that gave them a 21-19 lead and forced the Red Wolves to call a timeout. Out of the break, Troy continued to play well and won the set on a Calvillo kill off a set from Jaci Mesa.

It was the best offensive set for the road side, as Troy hit .265 (11-2-34). Butler led the team with four kills on six attempts, while Calvillo hit 1.000 (3-0-3). The Trojans had four of their nine aces in the set and committed only two errors.

Set 2: Troy 25-20
The Troy offense remained steady in the second set, as it jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead that led to a Arkansas State timeout. The Red Wolves started to find its rhythm as it went on a 6-2 run to tie things up at 9-9, and the two squads went back and forth for the next few points. The Trojans started to pull away thanks to a 4-1 run that made it 17-14 and the Trojans did not surrender the lead for the remainder of the set. The Trojans took the 2-0 match advantage on a service ace from Mesa.

Set 3: Arkansas State 25-17
The third set was all Arkansas State, as they got out to a 4-3 lead and remained ahead for the rest of the frame. The Troy offense hit .194 (13-6-36) and couldn't piece together a run to get back into it. Hester had five kills in the set.

The Red Wolves hit .344 (13-2-32) and won the set on a block by Yazmyn Billings and Kaitlin Whitlock.

Set 4: Arkansas State 25-21
The Red Wolves opened on a 4-0 run and led for the entire set. The Trojans hit .167 (12-5-42). With Arkansas State leading 21-11, the Trojans attempted their hand at a comeback as they went on a 9-2 run to make 23-20 but couldn't finish the comeback as the Red Wolves tied the match at 2-2 on an Addison Collum kill.

Set 5: Arkansas State 15-12
The fifth set was filled with ties (seven) and a pair of lead changes. The Trojans were leading 6-5 when Arkansas State used a timeout. The two teams traded the next few points coming out of the break and with the scored tied 8-8, the Red Wolves went on a 4-0 run to take a commanding 12-8 lead. The Trojans called a timeout and then went on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to one but was unable to jump ahead. An attack error by Troy gave Arkansas the 15th point it needed to complete the reverse sweep.

Quotable – head coach Josh Lauer
"It was really tough. We took advantage of Arkansas State's errors in the first couple sets, and then kind of got into a dog fight. We had a tough time slowing them down defensively, and getting into a fifth set and it goes back and forth. They were the team that played a little bit cleaner, and now we have got to rebound and kind of get straightened back out tomorrow and try to play a little bit more consistent."

Up Next
Troy is back in action in Jonesboro on Friday at 4 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available on Troystats.com.

Notables
• Ashlynn Axtell made her collegiate debut and started all five sets on Thursday night.
• Tori Hester had a match-high 21 kills. She has recorded 20 or more kills in four of the last five matches.
• Tori Hester extended her double-digit kill streak to 41 matches. It remains the longest known active streak in Division I women's volleyball.
• Tori Hester had a season-high 15 digs to record her eighth double-double of the season.
• Jaci Mesa had a match-high 23 digs, which ties her career-high and is a season-high for the junior out of Texas.
• Janelle Stuempfig had a team-high 28 assists while Jordan Sinness had 20.
• Troy is now 8-19 all-time against Arkansas State, and it's five match-winning streak against the Red Wolves snapped.