Auburn snaps Troy volleyball’s winning streak

Wally Pendergrass

Staff Writer  

The Trojan volleyball team took a five-game winning streak into Auburn on Friday, Sept. 12, and came back home with a three-game losing streak.

The Trojans went 0-3 in the Active Ankle Challenge this past weekend, losing matches to Auburn, South Florida and Winthrop.

On Friday, the Trojans lost 3-0 to the host Auburn Tigers in front of a home crowd of 863 people. The Trojans had only 24 kills as a team and were led by junior middle hitter Darby Griff with nine kills. Junior setter Tineille Waggoner had 19 assists and two service aces.

Troy tried to bounce back Saturday morning, and jumped out to a  1-0 lead over the South Florida Bulls. The Trojans held tough in the second set, which included 10 tied scores and five lead changes, but lost 25-22.

The Bulls would ride that momentum and take the next two sets and the match, 3-1.

The Trojans were led by junior outside hitter Winston Blair, who had 12 kills and 36 total attacks. Waggoner had 33 assists, while junior libero Ali Dowdell had 17 digs.

While four players did have double-digit kills in the match, the Trojans had only a .175 attack percentage for the match.

The Trojans then took on the Winthrop Eagles in their final match of the tournament. The Trojans were off to a good start again, winning the first set 25-18, but they lost the second set 25-19.

The third set was a tightly contested set with 10 tied scores and seven lead changes, but the Eagles eventually took down the Trojans 25-23. The Eagles would win the fourth set and take the match 3-1.

Sophomore outside hitter Symone Shaw led the Trojans with 14 kills. Waggoner again led in assists with 40, and Dowdell again led in digs with 19. Freshman libero/defensive specialist Avalon Nero and junior defensive specialist Madeleine Bouillion each had two service aces in the match.

The Trojans are now 8-4 and hoped to rebound as they started conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 17, against Georgia Southern in the Trojan Arena.

The Trojans also take on UT Arlington in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 19, and host Appalachian State in Troy on Sept. 21.

Related posts