TROY, Ala. –
Grace Morrison recorded her first career double-double, but App State volleyball dropped a 25-23, 17-25, 25-14, 25-17 contest at Troy on Saturday in the finale of a three-match weekend series.
Morrison finished with a team-high tying 10 kills on a .280 hitting percentage, while adding 10 digs. It marks the second straight match in which Morrison has reached double figure digs. She also finished with six blocks (one solo, five assists).
Kara Spicer added a team-high tying 10 kills, while
Victoria Wilform and
Lexi Kohut each had six kills.
Emma Reilly tallied a team leading 17 digs and
Sarah Missroon finished with two kills and eight blocks (one solo, seven assists).
Sophie Cain dished out 33 assists, while adding seven digs.
App State (1-10, 1-10 SBC) took a 9-7 lead in the opening set, only to see Troy (9-4, 9-4 SBC) answer with seven straight points to take a 14-9 lead. The Mountaineers trimmed their deficit to a point at 17-16 and used a 4-0 run a few points later to jump in front 20-19. Troy came right back with the next two points to retake the lead 21-20. The Trojans broke a 22-22 deadlock with two straight points. The Black and Gold used an attack error to pull within a point, before a Trojan kill gave them the first set 25-23.
In Set 2, the Mountaineers broke a 2-2 tie with an 8-1 run to go up 10-3. Troy pulled within two at 13-11, before the Black and Gold reeled off five consecutive points to open an 18-11 advantage. App State never looked back, taking the set 25-17.
After Troy jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the third set, the Mountaineers came back with three consecutive points to tie the score at 4-4. Troy retook the lead at 13-10 and used a 9-1 run to take a 22-11 lead. App State scored three straight points to pull within eight, before the Trojans won the final three points of the set to take a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, App State went on a 3-0 run to take an 8-7 advantage. With the Mountaineers leading 11-10, Troy scored four straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Troy continued to hold the lead and slowly pulled away for a 25-17 set victory to clinch the match.
The Mountaineers will conclude regular season play next week at Coastal Carolina. The two teams will meet Thursday at 6 p.m. and Friday at 1 p.m.
