(PHOTO/Joshua Thurston)
Troy volleyball (9-12) had two home games this past weekend which resulted in beating Georgia State and University of Louisiana-Monroe.
After a weekend of success on the court two Trojans, senior setter Alexandra Alexander and junior outside hitter Marija Zelenovic, received conference player of the week awards for their contributions in the matches.
Alexander, named Sun Belt Setter of the Week, had another memorable weekend with double-doubles in both the Friday match and the Sunday matches as she totaled 83 assists and 25 digs.
“This past weekend was a big weekend for us,” Alexander said. “We needed these wins to move us up in conference and, as a team, we knew that we couldn’t look at these teams as teams that are last in our conference. We looked at them as a team that is in our way for us to move forward.”
Zelenovic, named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week, was a force hitting and digging the ball for the Trojans with 31 combined kills and 13 total digs over the home weekend.
“It is nice, but it wouldn’t be possible without my team,” Zelenovic said. “We all played well as a team.”
In the Friday match, Troy downed the Georgia State Panthers in four sets (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-15).
Trojan junior outside hitter Kayla Pickart led the team with 15 kills while Zelenovic totaled 14 and Blair Winston had double digit kills with 10.
Troy senior libero Courtney Cohen finished the match Friday with 13 digs along with Alexander getting 13.
The Trojans made a point to shut down the Panther attack posting 11 total team blocks to GSU’s three.
Sunday, Troy was up to the task against the ULM, sweeping the Warhawks in three straight sets (25-17, 25-17, 25-23).
Zelenovic led the team with her 17 kills, while Winston racked up 11 and Kiah Cheatham had 10 kills.
Like Friday, Cohen recorded 13 digs while Ali Dowdall had 10 digs for Troy.
Alexander finished Sunday’s straight set win with 38 assists and 12 digs.
The senior setter talked about her excitement and how honored she feels about getting this the conference award.
“As my mom always told me, ‘I wouldn’t be where I am without God,’” Alexander said. “I thank God for giving me my talents as well as my teammates for making me look good! Without my hitters getting attacks, I wouldn’t have gotten assists, and without my passers giving me passes I wouldn’t have given my hitters a good set.”
The Trojans will be traveling to Texas this weekend, a trip that is meaningful for junior defensive specialist Kelley Curran who is from Houston, Texas.
“Since I have been here, the closest we have gotten to Texas would have been Mississippi, because the Louisiana’s and North Texas’ teams have always come to us,” Curran said. “I played travel club volleyball with one of the girls on Texas State and UT Arlington. It will be great getting to play against them.”
The girls will play Texas State this Friday and finish the weekend with UT Arlington on Sunday.
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