Box Score (.pdf)

Johnson City, Tenn. – The Troy Trojans rallied from two sets down to defeat the USC Upstate volleyball team 3-2 on Friday afternoon as the Spartans opened their 2016 season at the DoubleTree Hotel Buccaneer Challenge hosted by ETSU inside Brooks Gym.

Upstate falls to 0-1 on the season while Troy moves to 1-0.

The Trojans won the match by scores of 14-25, 18-25, 25-14, 25-16, 15-7.

• Sophomore Madison Haake led the Spartans with her first double-double of the season, and 12^th of her career, on 20 assists and 11 digs.  Haake also finished with four kills and two blocks.
• Senior Emily Koelling had a team-high nine kills for Upstate while also adding five blocks.
• Junior Kaleigh Kelley contributed 17 digs while freshman Tamara Kaiser, playing in her first collegiate match, dished out 10 assists. Sophomore Callie Yeargin led all Spartans with 19 digs.
• Sara Landis led Troy with a match-high 13 kills and Avalon Nero contributed 29 digs to lead all players.
• The Trojans out-hit Upstate .110 to .038, and tallied 50 kills to the Spartans' 33. Troy had 10 team blocks while Upstate had seven.

• Set One:  The Spartans scored the opening five points and held an early 10-3 lead on a Trojans attack error. Upstate led by as many as 12, 16-4, following a kill from Yeargin. Troy got as close as eight at 18-10, but the Spartans cruised to a 25-14 first-set win on another kill by Yeargin.
• Set Two:  The teams split the opening 12 points and were tied at 6-6. Haake gave Upstate a 10-7 advantage with her kill. Following a Trojans timeout, the Spartans continued a 12-2 run to go ahead 18-9. Reina Terry capped off a late run for Troy as her kill put the score at 20-16. A service error put Upstate ahead in the match 2-0 after winning set two 25-18.
• Set Three:  The Trojans never trailed in the third set and held an early 8-4 lead after a bad set by the Spartans. Koelling cut Upstate's deficit down to 9-6, only to see Troy benefit from a 14-3 run to lead 22-10. Symone Shaw gave the Trojans a third set victory, 25-14, after her kill.
• Set Four:  Troy opened set four on a 7-3 run until the Spartans benefitted from back-to-back errors to make the score 7-5. The Trojans used a 13-4 run midway to open their lead up to 19-10. Upstate could only get to within seven, 22-15, before Troy sent the match to a fifth set after winning 25-16.
• Set Five:  Yeargin tied the set for the Spartans at 5-5 with her kill, but the Trojans scored four of the next five points to lead 9-6. Troy registered the final six points of the set to win 15-7 and take the match 3-2.

• Upstate closes out play at the DoubleTree Hotel Buccaneer Challenge Saturday afternoon with two matches.
• The Spartans face Austin Peay at 2:30 p.m. before taking on host ETSU at 5:00 p.m.