Volleyball Comes up Short in Regular Season Finale

Saturday, November 14

Troy, Ala.

2 p.m.

Troy University

14-11,9-7Sun Belt

App State

19-11,12-4Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
App State	21	25	25	25	15	3
Troy	25	10	20	27	13	2

Box Score (PDF)

2026 10 22 Troy VB vs. South Alabama_Game 2_Chris Davis

Photo by: Davis Photography

11/14/2026 6:07:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. — Troy volleyball falls just short in a five-set (25-21, 10-25, 20-25, 27-25, 13-15) thriller to conclude the 2026 regular season inside Trojan Arena.

Troy (14-11, 9-7 SBC) found itself in its fifth five-set match of the season—and its fourth in the last seven outings. Before the match, Trojan Nation honored seniors Sophie Ocampo, Ella Broadhead, and Addison Kersting for their stellar careers and lasting impact on the program.

Despite facing a 73-44 deficit in kills, the Trojans battled down to the wire. Troy stayed competitive behind strong serving, tallying eight aces — highlighted by Olivia Kwiatkowski's ninth three-ace match of the season — while capitalizing on 20 App State service errors.

App State (19-11, 12-4 SBC) turned in an efficient offensive performance, hitting .321 (73/22/159) as a team. Four Mountaineers reached double-digit kills, led by Bella Hutchens with a match-high 19, alongside Charlotte Thompson (16), Nevaeh Hays (14), and Molly Teague (11). Setter Raegan Richardson orchestrated the offense with 60 assists — the second-most by a Sun Belt player in conference play this season — while the Mountaineers added a season-high 17 blocks defensively, anchored by Hays' 13-block double-double.

Set 1 — Troy 25, App State 21
Following a tight start to the opening frame, Troy pulled away to take a 15-11 lead into the media break. The Trojans maintained that four-point cushion late in the set, forcing App State's second timeout at 22-18 before holding on to capture their fourth consecutive set over the Mountaineers behind five errorless kills from Ashlynn Axtell.

Set 2 — Troy 10, App State 25
App State flipped the script in the second set, holding Troy to just four kills and a -.129 attack percentage. Deadlocked at 6-6 early, the Mountaineers broke open the frame with a 6-0 run and later rattled off six more unanswered points to pull away and even the match at one set apiece.

Set 3 — Troy 20, App State 25
App State once again seized early control, racing out to a 9-4 advantage. The Mountaineers maintained their five-point cushion at the media break before Troy answered with a strong push, cutting the deficit to 16-18. However, the Trojan comeback fell short as App State held on to secure a 2-1 match lead heading into the fourth set.

Set 4 — Troy 27, App State 25
Facing elimination in the fourth set, the Trojans showed resilience. After App State built an early 11-7 lead, Troy rattled off four unanswered points to pull even and carried a 15-14 edge into the media break. The two sides traded points down the stretch before Olivia Kwiatkowski delivered in the clutch, tallying five errorless kills and her third ace of the match to lift Troy to the set win.

Set 5 — Troy 13, App State 15
In a fitting conclusion to a tightly contested match, Troy came up just short as App State's defense stepped up in the fifth set, recording three of its 17 blocks in the decisive frame. The shortened fifth set featured six ties and four lead changes before the Mountaineers outlasted the Trojans to stave off another comeback, dropping Troy to 1-4 in five-set matches to close the regular season.

Quotable — Head Coach Josh Lauer
Just a tough, hard-fought game today, Lauer said. I spoke with App State's coach earlier today, and we discussed how our teams have a lot of similarities, and that it was going to be a knock-down, drag out today. And ultimately it was knock-down, drag out. We've got some stuff to learn from this match and I'm glad that we'll learn from it, so that we can get things tightened up.

Notables

Brooke Dawson matched her season-high with a dig.
Kenzly Foote recorded career-highs in assists (3) and digs (13).
Brooke Forkum boosted her career-best in digs to 16.
Troy falls to 1-4 in five-set matches this season.

Up Next
Troy volleyball returns to action next Friday when they compete in the Quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Trojans ended the regular season as the second seed in the West Division, and will face off against the East Division's three-seeded Marshall beginning at 11 a.m. The match will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+.