Daniel Hunt
Staff Writer
The Troy volleyball team hosted a pair of Georgia teams over the weekend to kick off its home conference schedule, losing to Georgia Southern before beating Georgia State.
The two Georgia teams traveled to Troy for the Trojans’ first home matches in eight games.
In Friday’s game against the Eagles, Georgia Southern and Troy seemed evenly matched, with the two teams trading points for six consecutive serves in the first set.
Troy proceeded to get two blocks in a row from sophomore Belle Waldrop, which helped the Trojans keep a two-point lead all the way until the 16th point. Troy struggled down the stretch, however, as Georgia Southern took the lead to win the first set 25-21.
The blocks from Waldrop ended up being two of only six in the match for the Trojans.
The second set saw Troy hop out to a 2-0 lead before giving up a 5-0 run to the Eagles. Troy battled its way back to even it up at eight points apiece.
The Trojans kept the set close until the 21st point, when a critical error from Troy gave Georgia Southern the 22nd point, which ended up being Troy’s downfall. The Eagles closed out the set 25-21, while Troy was able to record only a .074 hitting percentage and committed eight errors.
The home team played from behind for most of the third set. Troy was finally able to tie the score at 10 apiece off a timely kill by Jenni Young. The back-and-forth affair continued until the 40th point.
Consecutive points by Georgia Southern and another error helped the Eagles edge Troy out 25-22 and win the match 3-0.
Young led the way with 14 kills and a block, but it was not enough to take down the .388 hitting percentage and 11 blocks from Georgia Southern.
The following day, Troy hosted Georgia State for an early morning showdown. Troy started fast in the first set, allowing only four points in the first 14 serves. The Panthers didn’t lead at all in the set, losing it 25-18.
Another good start in the second set saw Troy up 7-1. Georgia State battled back to tie it at 18 before taking the lead on a critical error. Once again, the error proved to be costly as Troy lost the set 25-23. The Panthers won the set despite hitting only .067 percent.
The third set was close despite the score. It was near even until Troy broke open a lead on its 13th point. A 0.308 hitting percentage fueled a late run by Troy as the Trojans won 25-17 while committing only three errors.
A nail-biting fourth set proved Georgia State was still in it, winning 25-21. Troy allowed only one error, but that error was the most untimely of the whole weekend.
Now forcing a fifth and final set, Georgia State looked as if it would complete the comeback after it went on a 6-0 run. A kill by Waldrop stopped the run, which set up an 11-2 Trojan run to win the set 15-9 and close out the match 3-2.
Logan Page had an amazing day leading the Trojans with 18 kills and 7 blocks. Page, Waldrop and Savannah Moore combined for 42 kills as the stars for the Trojans came up big.
Troy’s next match will take place today at 6 p.m. in Mobile against South Alabama.
