Trojan volleyball has losing weekend on the road

(PHOTO/Joshua Thurston)

Caleb Odom

Sports Editor

Troy volleyball (9-14) is looking to get its season back on track with a win on the road against Sun Belt rival UALR on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.

The Trojans had some momentum as they traveled to Texas last weekend to play Texas State and UT Arlington, but back to back losses sucked the life out of a team struggling to find its identity this season.

“We just have to be able to get over the hump,” Troy head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “We had the opportunity to go to five with Texas State. We were up 24-20 in the first game, and we lost 26-24 so we gave up six straight points. We can’t do that if we want to be successful.”

Troy fell in four sets to the Bobcats on Friday (24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 16-25).

Junior outside hitter Marija Zelenovic picked up a double-double in the match with her 12 kills and 14 digs in the loss while Blair Winston finished with 10 kills.

Trojan senior setter Alexandra Alexander had a double-double of her own with a 32 assist and 16 dig effort.

Troy’s defensive players racked up the digs on Friday with senior Courtney Cohen recording 27 digs while Ali Dowdall had 19 and Kelley Curran had 16.

“On Sunday against UT Arlington up 13-9 in the fifth game and lost 19-17 it just comes down to being aggressive and holding a lead and doing the things we have done the entire game or match to that point and just carrying it over to finish it,” Kirkpatrick said.

In the match against UT Arlington, the Trojans lost a five set heartbreaker (16-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-19), which has been a common trend for the team this year.

This season, Troy has played in seven matches that have gone the distance of five sets, and the Trojans have lost all but one of them.

“I think right now we are just more focused on like the little things and getting the job actually done,” Winston said. “We have been close many times but like we just can’t finish which seems to be a problem for us.”

The team is focused on taking down the UALR Trojans this Friday because the victory is much needed and there is a score to settle.

“This is a huge game because we have a little personal rivalry going on with them because last match was super ugly,” Winston said. “Hopefully we go out there and stick it to them.”

After the Friday match, Troy returns home to face Texas State again on Sunday, Oct 27, at noon.