Troy picks up 600th win; head to conference play
Published 8:21 pm Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Troy volleyball wrapped up their non-conference play on Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep against the Mercer Bears. The victory would go in the books as the 600th win in program history; and also sets up the Trojans with a 10-4 record going into Sun Belt conference action.
“I’m proud of the team for being part of history tonight with the 600th win,” said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick. “We’re looking forward to continuing this through conference play.”
Despite a slow start getting behind to the Bears in game one, the Trojans regained their momentum to reclaim the lead and the game 25-23. Troy went on to claim the other two games with stronger deficits of 25-16 and 25-17.
The Trojans have already shown much improvement from the 2010 season in which they finished 6-9 in non-conference play and went on to an 11-22 overall season finish.
The Trojans Tuesday victory was the second time this season Troy has beaten Mercer. The Trojans swept the Bears back on September 2 in the Mercer Bear Brawl tournament on their way to capture the tournament title.
The Trojans also remain undefeated inside Sartain Hall having beaten in-state opponents Alabama State 3-0 and Alabama A&M 3-2 on top of Tuesday’s victory. Troy’s away record has been just as impressive as they finish non-conference play 4-1 on the road.
Troy has had its fair share of individual standouts as well so far as in the 2011 season. Newcomer transfer from Long Island University Breanna Cullity leads the team in kills with 142 followed closely by returner Louisiana Tech transfer Natasha Kolunija who has 135 kills.
Returning sophomore from Austin, Texas Alexandra Alexander leads the team in sets with 377 assists and returning sophomore libero and Etowah, Ga. native Courtney Cohen leads the team with 272 digs.
The Trojans now turn their focus towards conference play starting with the University of Louisiana Monroe on Friday, September 23 and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday, September 25. Troy fell to ULL in their conference opener in 2010 1-3 but swept ULM 3-0 in their second Sun Belt matches.
Troy will kick off against the Warhawks at 7 p.m. inside Sartain Hall at Troy University.