The Citadel Drops Second Match of Trojan Invitational

Friday, September 18

Troy, Ala. / Trojan Arena

7:30 PM

The Citadel

3-8,0-0SoCon

Troy

4-4,0-0Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	Final F
The Citadel	17	18	12	0
Troy	25	25	25	3

Box Score.PDF

The Citadel Drops Second Match of Trojan Invitational

9/18/2026 10:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: The Citadel Athletics

TROY, Ala. — The Citadel (3-8) fell to Troy (4-4), 3-0 (17-25, 18-25, 12-25), in its second match of the Trojan Invitational on Friday night inside Trojan Arena.

Luci Lippelgoos led the Bulldogs with eight kills and 10 points while adding one service ace. Jordyn Sims recorded seven kills while hitting .353 and contributed two block assists. Greta Pleuss finished with 19 assists, three digs and three block assists, while Jess Martin collected a team-high 12 digs and added two assists.

For Troy, Ashlynn Axtell led the Trojans with 13 kills while hitting .765 without an attack error. Madison Marx finished with 23 assists and seven digs, while Haley Nash collected a team-high 13 digs, five assists and one service ace. Olivia Kwiatkowski added eight kills and nine digs.

"We had some good moments tonight, but we weren't consistent enough against a very physical Troy team. I thought Luci and Jordyn did a nice job offensively, and we showed fight when we fell behind," said head coach Dave Zelenock. "We must do a better job of staying aggressive and limiting long scoring runs. The good thing is we get another opportunity tomorrow to respond and finish the weekend strong."

First Set | 17-25
·       After Gwen Berry tied the set at 1-1 with a kill, Troy scored six consecutive points to take a 7-1 lead.
·       The Bulldogs responded with four straight points, highlighted by a Sims-Lippelgoos block and kills from Rachel Reininger and Lippelgoos, to cut the deficit to 7-5.
·       Troy rebuilt its advantage through the middle of the set, taking an 18-11 lead before an Emerson Hill service ace and a Lippelgoos kill pulled the Bulldogs within 18-14.
·       The Trojans answered with five consecutive points to extend the lead to 23-14 and closed out the set, 25-17, despite a late Lippelgoos kill and a Pleuss-Elizabeth Miller block.

Second Set | 18-25
·       Troy created the first separation of the set, taking a 10-4 lead behind kills from Kwiatkowski and Axtell and service aces from Nash and Josephine Hensley.
·       The Bulldogs responded by cutting the deficit to 12-10 behind a Lippelgoos service ace and kills from Miller and Sims.
·       Troy rebuilt its advantage to 18-12. The Bulldogs answered with a Sims kill and a Hill service ace, but the Trojans closed out the set, 25-18, on an Isabella Ruether kill.

Third Set | 12-25
·       Troy scored the first four points of the set before kills from Sims and Lippelgoos helped the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 5-3.
·       The Trojans extended their lead to 13-4 behind a run that included a Kayla Baetzel service ace and kills from Kwiatkowski and Sophie Ocampo.
·       The Bulldogs answered with a mid-set push, using blocks involving Miller, Pleuss and Sims to cut the deficit to 14-9.
·       Troy controlled the remainder of the set, getting late kills from Axtell and Kalina Calvillo to secure the 25-12 win.

Up Next
The Citadel closes out the Trojan Invitational against Northwestern State on Saturday, Sept. 19, at 11:30 a.m. ET, inside Trojan Arena.

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