Troy, which came into Tuesday night with a newly minted No. 18 ranking in Class 2A, became the second successive state-ranked team to fall victim to the Lady Eagles. Rogers overcame a mistake-riddled first game to defeat the Trojanettes 15-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 in chilly Trojan Gym.
Rogers, which improved to 13-7 overall and 2-1 in league play, dispatched the former No. 13 Academy Lady Bumblebees in straight games last Friday. Troy slipped 10-15 overall, 1-2.
“We had a lot of hitting errors and we were out of sync much of the time,” said Rogers coach Pam Lomas, whose team finished last season in the top 15. “It’s great to play those kinds of games and still manage to finish it up.
“We had our best match against Academy. We played really, really well. Hopefully we’ll get in those polls.”
The Trojanettes were unable to build upon the success of their strong opening game - or the top-20 ranking that holds little interest for Troy coach Amber Guin.
“I don’t pay much attention to the polls,” she said. “I didn’t know it until another district coach e-mailed me about it. We have to find some kind of consistency. We know we have the potential. We just have to use it.”
Down 2-1, the Trojanettes battled back into contention in the fourth game in an effort to tie the match. Kills from Chelsea Henderson and Vanessa Watkins were catalysts in Troy running off eight of 10 points to take a 16-14 lead. Meg Maedgen put down a Cat Hernandez set for a 17-16 advantage.
But the Lady Eagles wrested the momentum away by reeling off seven straight points. A pair of sizzling spikes from Dana Schaffner, a scoring block by Brittany Luna, a dink by Nancy Macha and an ace by Kelsey Hudson propelled Rogers to a 23-17 lead. The Lady Eagles eventually finished it off when Schaffner put down a Hudson set.
Rogers similarly swatted away a Troy challenge in the second game after seeing a six-point advantage dwindle to nothing. Spikes by Stacy Cohen, Erica Cooper and Ryan Allen helped Troy gain an 18-18 tie.
However, the Lady Eagles zipped through seven of the next eight points to even the match. Kills by Cayleigh Drake, Hudson and Macha along with a kill and an ace from Nicholyn Carter-Maddux gave Rogers the win.
The Lady Eagles managed to stay a respectable distance from the Trojanettes in the third to take a 2-1 lead, with Macha putting down the final point.
Feasting primarily on 16 unforced Rogers hitting errors, Troy never was in trouble in the opener.
“We’ve been kind of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of team,” said Guin, who is expecting her first child the day after the regular season ends and whose team will host Rosebud-Lott on Friday. “We can’t afford to be like that in this district. We have to regroup and do whatever it takes.”
After three district matches, Florence is the only 3-0 team after defeating Lago Vista 3-1 on Tuesday. Rogers is enjoying its rebound after a district-opening loss to Lago Vista.
“We’re still getting used to each other,” Lomas said of her young team, which will meet Jarrell on Friday. “We’re getting it together. Our defense played really, really well and we need to get our hitters to be more consistent.”
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