Sinclair Portis
Staff Writer
The Troy volleyball team’s winning streak ended on Thursday, Oct. 22, when it fell to Texas State 3-1 in Trojan Arena.
The Trojans (13-12, 6-5 Sun Belt) hoped to come away with their ninth straight victory this season, but came up just short of the record last achieved in 1994.
The Trojans started off with a struggle against the Bobcats (13-10, 8-2 Sun Belt), but battled back in an intense first set to go up one game to none. It was in this first set that senior middle hitter Darby Griff set a Troy career record with 304 blocks, leading her team to a 25-22 win.
“It was a huge goal coming into this season,” Griff said. “So it was amazing to be able to break it, especially since the last record holder was one of my previous teammates, Devin. I always looked up to her, and it was a huge goal and a huge accomplishment for me, but I just wish it could’ve come in a win.”
Texas State was able to bounce back from its loss in the first set, and it halted the Trojans’ record-breaking hopes after that. The Bobcats never let up for the rest of the game, dominating up front and limiting errors to win the next three sets.
The Trojans were stumped offensively, gaining only .065 hitting percentage to Texas State’s .367. Junior middle hitter Sara Landis hit the high of nine kills for the team. Sophomore setter Reina Terry hit another double-double with 26 assists and 10 digs.
“I thought Texas State played really well, and I thought we didn’t,” said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick after the game. “It’s been a long time since we’ve played like that, and it kind of brought us down to earth a little bit. But really, I can’t say enough about the way Texas State played.”
The Trojans return to the court on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when they travel to Mobile to go up against conference rival South Alabama. Match time is set for 6 p.m.
