Troy Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Over Mercer
TROY, Alabama – The Troy volleyball team survived a late scare in a five-set thrilling win over Mercer, 3-2 (33-31, 25-15, 23-25, 21-25, 15-9), on Thursday night at Trojan Arena.
Troy (5-1) picked up its second five-set win of the year and opened its portion of the Trojan Invitational with a win. Jacksonville State swept Alabama A&M in the tournament’s opening match.
The Trojans took the first two sets, including a very exciting 33-31 win in the first. After a dominating 25-15 win in the second set, Troy saw Mercer fight back in third to avoid the sweep.
The Bears hit .351 in the third set and won a tight one, 25-23, before evening the match with a 25-21 fourth-set win in which Troy hit just .059. Mercer (2-2) started the fifth set with a service error and Troy rode it to a 7-2 lead. The Trojans hit .304 in the fifth set on their way to a 15-9 win.
“It was a good test of composure,” head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “We’ve worked on our mental toughness quite a bit this season. Luckily everything we’ve been working on in practice helped us make some plays in the end and win it in five.
“It was a good team. We always say that adversity shows character and we showed our character tonight.”
Symone Shaw led the Trojans offensively with a career-high 16 kills. She hit .204 as the Trojans posted a .212 attack percentage as a team. Darby Griff posted a team-high .318 percentage with 11 kills and four errors on 22 attempts. Blair Winston (15) and Marija Zelenovic (13) were also both in double-digits in the kill column.
Zelenovic posted one of two double-doubles for the Trojans with 17 digs. Ali Dowdall led the way with 21 digs. Tineille Waggoner had her first career double-double with 56 assists and 12 digs.
Troy continued to block well with 12.0 blocks as a team, led by six from Griff and five from Kiah Cheatham.
Mercer, who defeated an NCAA Tournament team in College of Charleston last weekend, was led by Molly Locke with 18 kills and Tori Penrod with 28 digs.
The Trojans return to the court on Friday when they host Alabama A&M at 9:30 a.m. and Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. There will also be matches at 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to close out the Trojan Invitational.
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