Volleyball splits with South Alabama at home
Troy volleyball split its home series against conference rival South Alabama last week in two of the season's highest-energy matches. Trojan fans showed up and made a real difference.
“Volleyball is a momentum game, and I don’t think the crowd realizes how much they play into the momentum changes,” said fifth-year middle hitter Sophie Ocampo.
The South Alabama Jaguars’ block won them the match last Thursday, as they defeated Troy in four sets, forcing Troy’s most attack errors of the season in a single match. Dalayla Blackwell led the defense from the middle, tying her career high with 11 total blocks in Thursday’s match and then surpassing it twenty-four hours later with 13 total blocks.
In Thursday’s match, this block resulted in the Trojans' attackers committing more errors than kills in two sets, and in another set, they had only one more kill than error. However, in the third set, Troy began to figure things out, hitting for 10 kills with no errors and winning handily.
Friday’s match saw the Trojans win in a maximum five-set battle, with South Alabama taking the first and third sets behind a season-high 19 team blocks and a career-high 20-kill effort from Eva Dittmar.
“I’m really proud of the effort and the resiliency they had to bounce back after a tough defeat,” said head coach Josh Lauer.
Olivia Kwiatkowski led the Trojans in kills, tying her season-high with 14, but three other Trojans also reached double figures for the second time this season.
“Different people showed up along the way,” Lauer said. “Sophie Ocampo was unbelievable in the fifth set.
“Kenzley Foote made some incredible service runs and defensive plays. Isa Ruether was the energizer out there, taking some huge swings.”
Ashlynn Axtell was one of the Trojans to record double-digit kills, starting the second set with three straight kills and snatching momentum from South Alabama, which just won the first set.
Kalina Calvillo maintained intense service pressure all season, entering the weekend 21st in the nation in aces per set, and she added four more aces. However, she improved her consistency with such a hard serve, getting 95%of her serves in on Friday. Foote surpassed Calvillo's consistency, not missing any of her 17 serves that day, including in the clutch as she served Troy’s final four points in the fifth set.
Ocampo’s veteran presence was ever clear in the fifth set as she checked in at 7-6 and recorded three kills on four attempts when the stakes were the highest for the Trojans.
After an ultra-emotional rivalry match, the stakes do not lessen for the Trojans this week as they travel to Jonesboro, Arkansas, to battle Arkansas State for the number one spot in the division. Troy is 8-2 in the division, and this weekend marks its final divisional series, while Arkansas State is 7-1 and will play another divisional series after the Trojans.
The Trojans will face the Red Wolves at 6 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday in First National Bank Arena.
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