The Troy Trojan volleyball team made a trip to the Bayou State for a pair of road games last weekend, winning and losing each by three sets.
The Trojans (9-22, 3-11 Sun Belt) fell to Louisiana-Lafayette in the first of two weekend matches, playing a competitive three sets.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair as each team traded runs. The Ragin’ Cajuns (9-19, 5-8 Sun Belt) opened with a 10-5 lead that quickly dwindled to a 14-12 lead.
Lafayette then scored four unanswered points, but it had to fend off another Troy rally to capture a 25-22 win.
Set No. 2 was evenly matched before a late 4-0 run gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a 25-21 victory. Errors were the Trojans’ downfall, as they committed nine attack errors in 34 attempts.
Lafayette was efficient in the set and had a .296 hitting percentage on 27 total attempts. It clinched the match victory with a 25-19 set three win.
Troy freshman Belle Waldrop had four kills in the set and finished with a team-high 10 kills. It was the best offensive set of the night for the Trojans, but they could not overcome the 13 Ragin’ Cajun kills.
Two days later, Troy made the three-hour trip to Monroe and captured its first three-set sweep since its win against Southern University on Sept. 2.
With the first set tied at 8, Troy went on a 6-0 run aided by four Warhawk attack errors. The Trojans never let go of the lead and won the set 25-16 behind 14 kills.
The second set had a similar story. With the game tied at 9, the Trojans scored seven unanswered points and maintained the lead the rest of the way.
Troy had a .286 hitting percentage in the set. It finished the match at .246, the highest hitting percentage the Trojans have recorded against Sun Belt competition so far this season.
Up 2-0, the Trojans captured the victory with a dramatic third-set win.
After falling behind 7-2, Troy raced back into the game and took a momentary 8-7 lead. The teams then traded scores until Troy scored five of the final six points, grabbing the 26-24 win.
Waldrop, who got the final kill, was once again dominant on offense. She led the team in kills.
Reina Terry was the key facilitator for the Trojans in the match. She had a combined 38 assists to just four errors between her team’s two Louisiana games.
“I’m really proud of our entire team for their efforts today,” Troy Head Coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “They worked extremely hard, and it was good to see their hard work paying off with the results that we want.”
Troy will finish off the regular season with a road trip this weekend to Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.
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