TROY, Ala. — Troy volleyball grabbed the first matchup of the Trojan Invitational with a sweep (25-18, 25-19, 25-18) over Murray State on Thursday.
Troy (3-4) delivered a dominant offensive performance, highlighted by four Trojans hitting over .400 in the match. Kalina Calvillo led the attack with 13 kills while hitting .458. Olivia Kwiatkowski set season highs in both hitting percentage (.450) and kills (11), while Ashlynn Axtell added nine kills at a .400 clip. Brooke Forkum also hit .400 with two kills, and Isa Ruether chipped in seven kills to round out Troy's 42 total kills on the night.
People are also reading…
As a team, the Trojans opened the contest hitting .545 in the first set. The final set saw the Cardinal and White post a .429 mark, finishing the night at .368 overall.
The win brings the Trojans to 2-3 all-time against Murray State (1-9). Troy's defense set the tone early, holding the Racers to a .192 hitting percentage in set one and a .062 mark in set two.
Set 1 — Troy 25, Murray State 18
Offense was on full display for Troy in the opening set. Kwiatkowski brought the energy, recording five of her 11 kills in the first on .714 hitting. Calvillo tacked on an additional three kills, hitting nearly perfect on her four attacks. Madison Marx proved to be a spark in the serving game, as the setter recorded three aces, including two back-to-back, to help secure the opening frame.
Set 2 — Troy 25, Murray State 19
Calvillo continued her hot offensive performance, picking up six kills in the second on .455 hitting. Both squads were active at the net, as both the Trojans and Racers tallied three blocks. The teams went back and forth for much of the early half of the frame, until a five-point run from the Trojans helped secure the lead.
Set 3 — Troy 25, Murray State 18
Troy's offense returned to its first-set form, as the Trojans tallied 17 kills in the frame. Ruether and Kwiatkowski led the way as both hammered five kills on .625 and .556 hitting, respectively. The Trojan offense proved to be too much to handle for the Racers, as the Trojans went on to secure the sweep.
Quotable — head coach Josh Lauer
"I thought our offense was really aggressive — it was the stabilizer force for us tonight," Lauer said. "Some other areas were inconsistent at times tonight, but our offense stayed very consistent and very aggressive, which proved to be the difference in the match. We had four players hit over .400, had some really aggressive swings, and a great job by our setters who ran the floor tonight. I was very proud of that."
Notables
- Olivia Kwiatkowski recorded a season-high 11 kills.
- Haley Nash secured a season-high three service aces.
- Isa Ruether notched a season-high three blocks and three block assists.
- Kalina Calvillo improved her double-digit kill report to six out of seven matches on the season.
- With the win, head coach Josh Lauer brings his career record at Troy back to an even 133-133.
Up next
The Trojans return to action tomorrow night, as they await a matchup with The Citadel beginning at 6:30 p.m. The match will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+.
