Hanna Cooper
Staff Writer
The Troy volleyball team traveled to Jonesboro to kick off conference play against the Arkansas State Red Wolves, who went 12-4 in conference play last season. Troy fell to the Red Wolves in three close sets on Friday night.
The Trojans held the lead in the first set up until the 12-9 score mark. The Red Wolves were able to string along an impressive five-point run to take the lead 14-12.
The teams went toe-to-toe with one another until the game was tied at 21. Two Red Wolves’ kills and two attack errors by the Trojans ended up allowing the Red Wolves to take the first set.
In the second set, Troy would again take a three point advantage early in the set (8-5), but the Red Wolves would be able to go for another five-point streak to put themselves up 10-5. The teams continually battled hard, tying the game 13 times. In the end, the Red Wolves would gain the winning point off an attack error and roll into the third set with the 2-0 advantage.
An early six-point run by the Red Wolves would put Troy at an 2-8 disadvantage, which would be difficult to overcome. The Trojans would fall in the final set of the match 25-18.
Cheyenne Hayes continues her streak after recording 14 kills in the match. She now has double-digit kills in 12 straight matches. Amara Anderson, the Sun Belt Conference assist leader, tallies 35 assists in the three-set match.
After the match against Arkansas State, Troy traveled south to take on Little Rock. Troy fell in the opening two sets 25-18 and 25-23, but refused to let the story end quickly. The ladies would rally back to take the third set 25-18 and the fourth set 25-21.
In the deciding fifth set, neither team was able to string along any streaks past two points. Ultimately, Little Rock was able to score two consecutive points to win the fifth set 16-14.
Savannah Moore had a career performance on the floor against Little Rock recording a career- high 19 kills and hitting at .500 percent.
Cheyenne Hayes continued her streak of games with over 10 kills. The sophomore had 15 kills Saturday night bringing her to 13 straight games with double-digit kills.
Libero Lacey Jeffcoat had 26 digs in the game. This is the most by a Troy player since Alisha Hinrichs, who had 30 against Portland on Sept. 16, 2016. It is also the sixth most by any player in the conference this year. Her freshman counterpart, Amara Anderson, tallied 56 assists and now holds three of the top five single-game assist totals in the conference this season.
The Trojans return to the Trojan Arena this Friday for their first home conference match against Georgia State. The game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
