Volleyball unable to win on the road

by John Mann

Following a successful 2-1 series of games at home, the Trojan volleyball team went on the road once again for two conference matches in Arkansas against UA-Little Rock and Arkansas State.

The Trojans opened the weekend against the UALR Trojans on Friday.

Since Troy joined Division I in 1993, it has faced the UALR Trojans on four occasions and have been unsuccessful bringing home a win.

Troy unfortunately was unable to break UALR's winning record, falling in a tough five match set (18-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 15-8).

'We played really well in the first three sets,' said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick. 'We just lost our focus and momentum in the fourth set.'

Troy was led by senior Meghan Gilroy with 17 kills, with Megan Henderson posting 47 assists and 16 digs.

Kayla Giles and Devin Von Pingel also posted double digit kills with Lizzie Clough finishing with 15 digs.

The loss brought the Troy Trojans' Sun Belt record down to 2-2 with an overall record of 6-9.

The Trojans traveled to Jonesboro, Ark., to take on the 12-5 Arkansas State Red Wolves.

The Trojans' record against Arkansas State is similar to the one with UALR, as the Trojans have been unable to bring home a victory in five attempts.

The Trojans were unable to stave off the Red Wolves as they fell in a tough four-set match (25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 31-29).

'We came out mentally unprepared tonight,' Kirkpatrick. 'I'm proud of how we finished, but I'm not satisfied because we didn't play that way throughout.'

Offensively, the Trojans were led by Brittany McClelland with 15 kills, followed by Meghan Gilroy with 14 and Devin Von Pingel with 10.

Megan Henderson had 37 assists, with Henderson, McClelland, Emily Strader, and Lizzie Clough posting double digit digs.

The loss leaves Troy with a 6-10 overall record and a 2-3 Sun Belt record.

The Trojans will have an opportunity to improve their conference record as they return home for a four-game series, a make-up against Samford University and games against Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette and University of New Orleans.