Volleyball punches postseason ticket with sweep

Troy Volleyball secured its spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament after defeating Southern Miss in a two-match series on Friday and Saturday inside Trojan Arena. 

The Trojans went to five sets in both matches, putting up a fight to sweep the Golden Eagles and punch a ticket to the tournament in Foley, Alabama. 

Friday night was a thriller, as the Trojans won their sixth straight match against the Golden Eagles and outscored Southern Miss 40-25 in the final two sets.  

Senior Ella Broadhead led Troy with seven blocks, nine kills, three digs and an assist in her stellar performance Friday.  Amiah Butler excelled with 25 kills, accompanied by eight digs and a block to contribute to the Trojans total of 10 blocks.  

Setters Madison Marx and Jordan Sinness recorded their fourth double-doubles of the season. Marx had 28 assists with 11 digs, and Sinness claimed 23 assists and 14 digs to both contribute to the Trojans total of 60 assists and 100 digs.  

"It was a really competitive match tonight -- we came out really tight and error prone but that settled down,” said head coach Josh Lauer. “I thought Amiah really helped us settle down and get in a really good groove to change the momentum of the match. 

“Olivia was dynamite from the back row with 22 digs, and there was a lot of really good team play. Ella was fantastic tonight from start to finish. We finished strong and it was a big win." 

Troy dropped the first set with a slow performance. Neither team came out strong with the score staying close, but Southern Miss took the opening set after coming back from a 22-18 deficit. 

The Trojans evened the match 1-1 after hitting .262 and going on a 5-1 run to take the lead and win the set. Broadhead finished the set with five kills and .833 hitting percentage after contributing to the run. 

The Golden Eagles bounced back to take the third set behind Lillie Johnson, who had three kills to help Southern Miss take the lead 2-1. Butler added five kills in the set to add to her 25 on the night.  

Troy rallied to dominate in the fourth set, hitting .263 and tallying three of their 10 aces of the night. Behind Butler’s seven kills, the Trojans went on a 7-0 run and never stopped until they tied the match 2-2.  

In a momentous fifth set, the Trojans hit .240 to win the match. Troy leapt out to a 5-1 lead with the help of Marx serving and Kalina Calvillo hammering home two kills. The Trojans sealed the match with a block from Broadhead and Butler. 

The Trojans kept up the momentum heading into Saturday, as they secured their spot in the Sun Belt tournament with another 3-2 win in the second match of the series. 

Saturday’s match was also senior day for the six Troy volleyball seniors. Butler closed out her career at home with a historic career-high 32 kill performance on .375 hitting, which ties the fourth-most kills all-time in a single match in Troy history. Butler's game surpasses the three hitting percentage performances ahead of her. 

Other seniors showed out too, as Jaci Mesa recorded a career-high 28 digs and added seven assists. Sinness added 25 assists and nine digs to aid the Trojans in the victory.  

"I'm just really proud of our team,” Lauer said. “They put in a lot of focused work this week and showed up every day. 

“Our opportunity to make the tournament came down to if can we play back-to-back nights at a high level. They earned it tonight. It was a really good night to be a Trojan."  

The Trojans and Golden Eagles split the first 10 points of the match, but a four-point run by the Trojans helped them take the lead. Southern Miss fought back to tie the set at 15, but Calvillo came in clutch with a kill and an ace to pull away and take the opening set 25-20. 

Set two was the longest of the match, featuring 16 ties and six lead changes. The Trojans took a 12-8 lead after a kill from Butler but couldn’t stay on top as one of Butler’s eight total attack errors gave the set to the Golden Eagles, 31-29. 

Set three was consistent with the two prior sets, as the Trojans gained an early lead 5-1, but the Golden Eagles caught up to tie the set 7-7. Southern Miss led 21-15 late in the frame and the Trojans closed in with a service run from Jordan Sinness, but the Golden Eagles would take the set 25-23. 

Down 2-1, the Trojans needed the last two sets to qualify for the Sun Belt Tournament and finish out their season in Trojan Arena with a win. 

Troy dominated the fourth set with a .304 hitting percentage, and Butler had six kills on 12 swings to secure the set 25-17. 

In the fifth, the Trojans and Golden Eagles raced to 15, as Troy took five of the first six points. A kill by Sydney Austin drove the Trojans ahead 10-4 and a final kill delivered by Olivia Kwiatkowski punched the ticket for Troy to head to Foley, Alabama on Nov. 20. 

The Trojans head on to finish their regular season in Boone, North Carolina, against App State on Friday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. before heading to the Sun Belt Tournament.