No. 1 women’s sand volleyball returns home


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After a road trip to Arizona, where the No. 1 Women of Troy volleyball team won all three matches, they return home for a matchup on Thursday against Loyola Marymount and Concordia in Merle Norman Stadium.

The Women of Troy continued their hot start to the season by improving their overall record to 12-0. In Arizona, the Women of Troy only dropped one point in their duals against New Mexico, Grand Canyon and Arizona State. Last week, the Women of Troy played six matches in just five days, but they finally had a short rest.

Head coach Anna Collier took full advantage of the break that her team received.

“The team had a day off on Monday and then went to the beach for some strength and conditioning on Tuesday,” said Collier. “We did much easier workouts so that we are resting and relaxing.”

So far this season the Women of Troy have been led by their   No. 1 pairing of Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes, as well the No. 3 pair of Meg Norton and Eve Ettinger. Sophomore Kelly Claes already has amassed 31 blocks while her partner Hughes has 174 kills on the season. With the third pair, Norton already has 151 kills and is hitting over .400. Ettinger, on the other hand, had 9 kills on just 14 swings against Cal State Bakersfield. These two pairings have been crucial to the Women of Troy’s success.

The No. 9 Loyola Marymount return back to USC for the second time this season and are hoping for a better outcome. In their first matchup, the Women of Troy won easily with a 4-1 victory, however, the No. 1 for USC of Claes and sophomore Sara Hughes were upset by the Lions’ No. 1 pairing of senior Betsi Metter and freshman Sarah Sponcil.

The Lions have struggled this season going on 2-6 so far and their two wins came against Pacific and Cal State Bakersfield. Though the team might be struggling, Metter and Sponcil have an overall record of                 13-3, while the rest of team has an overall record of 15-44.

Even though this hasn’t been the best season for Loyola Marymount, they are still extremely dangerous and are looking for a big upset against the Women of Troy.

The other opponent that the Women of Troy will face is the Concordia Eagles. The Eagles are in their first year of existence, and this will be the first match they play this season against USC. Several of their indoor players will be playing for the sand team for their offseason workout. Their head coach Kari Pestolesi is also the assistant coach for the indoor team.

The Women of Troy will have a height advantage against the Eagles as many of their players are 6 feet and under. The No. 1 pair for the Eagles are junior Marissa Boyd and freshman Rachel Flynn. With so much unknown about the Eagles, Collier isn’t taking any risks.

“I don’t really know anything about this team, but we are going to do what we always do and take care of our side of the court,” said Collier.

The first dual match on Thursday will begin at 1:30 p.m. against Loyola Marymount followed by another match at 3 p.m. against Concordia.