The Troy volleyball team concluded its season on the road, splitting its final two games of the regular season in the Carolinas.
The Trojans (10-24, 4-12 Sun Belt) faced the Sun Belt east division champion Coastal Carolina on Friday and fell in three lopsided sets. They followed up this trip to with a tightly-contested match against the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
Troy got off to a strong start in the first set, down by only one point when the Chanticleers strung together a 10-4 run to win the set. Troy junior Lauren Long led the Trojans with five of the team’s 14 kills in the first set.
The second set saw Coastal Carolina build a quick 14-3 lead after the Trojans committed 12 errors. The Chanticleers rode the Trojans’ mistakes to a 25-7 set win.
Troy posted a season-low -.318 hitting percentage, while Coastal Carolina finished the set with a .571.
In the third set, the Chanticleers jumped out to a 14-5 lead and never looked back. They had 13 kills on 20 attempts with just one error.
Six different Trojans had a kill in the set, but none had more than one. Junior Reina Terry had just ten assists, well short of her average of 25.5 per match.
Two days later, the Trojans traveled to Boone, North Carolina, to finish the season against Appalachian State. The game was tightly contested, and the Trojans pulled off a comeback to win in five sets.
Each team traded points in the first set until Troy pulled ahead 18-12 after a media timeout. The Trojans never lost the lead and won 25-21 after two Mountaineer attack errors.
Troy senior Symone Shaw had six kills in the set and ended with a game-high 16 kills.
The second set saw ten ties and five lead changes. Down 14-8, the Trojans roared back and took a 17-16 lead.
That lead was short-lived, however, as Troy had to use another run late to get back in front 25-24. The Mountaineers then scored the final three points to get the set victory.
Troy had a comfortable 20-13 lead in the third set when Appalachian State used an offensive surge to tie the set. The teams traded scores until a Mountaineer kill gave them a 28-26 set win.
Down two sets to one, the Trojan offense locked in, recording 16 team kills and a .401 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-15 set win.
In the fourth set, the Trojans were down 8-6 when they scored nine of the game’s final 12 points and won the match with a 15-11 set win.
“I’m really proud of our team and so happy to send our seniors out with a win,” head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “The three of them came through in a big way today.”
Along with Shaw, seniors Leah Causey and Sara Landis combined for 43 of the team’s 66 kills in the match.
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