Volleyball splits final regular-season series on the road

The Troy volleyball team split its final regular season series against App State in Boone, North Carolina to close out its season before heading down to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.  

Friday night, the Trojans took down the Mountaineers in a five-set match, with Amiah Butler leading with 26 kills on a .368 hitting percentage. Troy finished with a program-record 17 aces and hit .293 as a team. Setters Madison Marx and Jordan Sinness put up 46 assists as a pair, while libero Jaci Mesa collected a team-high 20 digs.  

Troy Athletics photo

Jordan Sinness sets a ball during Troy's series against Southern Miss

"That was truly probably our most complete team win of the season,” said head coach Josh Lauer. “I was really proud of how well we served tonight. 

“Amiah Butler was great again, and we got big plays from Kalina Calvillo, Sara Bates and a lot of others. It really was a great team win and now we'll enjoy it and get ready for another tough game tomorrow."  

The Trojans jumped out to an early lead in set one, 9-4, thanks to a pair of kills by Butler and a Kalina Calvillo ace. The Trojans hit .423 in the set and held the Mountaineers to .036 to take the first set. 

Troy opened set two the same as one, leading 14-11. App State swung the momentum back in its favor, using a 6-1 run to gain the lead. Sydney Austin provided three straight aces to help the Trojans tie it up at 23, but the Mountaineers converted two blocks to even the match 1-1. 

Set three was the most dominant for the Trojans, with Marx and Calvillo igniting an 8-1 service run to help the Trojans surge to a 13-5 lead. Butler added six kills in the set and the Trojans hit .382 with six aces to take the lead in the match 2-1.  

Set four was back-and-forth with 16 ties and four lead changes. The Trojans held two leads late in the set, but App State secured it on a 5-2 push.  

The Trojans built an early 5-3 lead in the final set with the help of Butler’s opening point and two kills. App State tied the score at seven, but the Trojans answered back with a 5-1 run. Sara Bates’ ace and an Ella Broadhead kill finished the match for the Trojans, 3-2. 

The Trojans closed out their series after falling in the second match to the Mountaineers in three sets on Saturday. 

Troy hit .195 as a team and committed 17 service errors that cost it the match. Butler led the team with 14 kills and Sinness claimed her 1,000 career assist, but Olivia Kwiatowski had the best performance of the match with 10 kills on a .562 hitting clip. Kwiatkowski also added 10 digs for a double-double on the night. 

"We had really good effort tonight,” Lauer said. “Kudos to App State, they passed really well and kept a lot of pressure on us. 

“As a team we have a great focus for the coming week and are all looking forward to making some good adjustments and preparing to compete in the Sun Belt Championship."  

The Trojans found a lead in the first set at 9-7, but the Mountaineers took control of the set and narrowly won, 25-23.  

Set two featured App State’s best offense hitting .364, with Maya Winterhoff and Delanie Grevengoed claiming three kills each in the set. App State took set two after the Trojans failed to take control.  

The Trojans sealed their fate with eight service errors, making it difficult to sustain runs in the third set. App State held the narrow lead, claiming a five-point advantage to win the match in straight sets.  

Troy turns their momentum to the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the West Division. The Trojans play the first round of the tournament against Marshall on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in Foley, Alabama.