Special to The Messenger

The Troy volleyball team will open its Sun Belt Conference schedule today when league newcomer Georgia Southern visits Trojan Arena for a 7 p.m. match.

Troy (8-4) has lost three straight matches after an 0-3 weekend at the Active Ankle Challenge. The Trojans fell to tournament host Auburn as well as South Florida and Winthrop. Prior to that, Troy had won five straight matches and were off to an 8-1 start, the best start in the program’s Division I era (1993-present).

The Trojans are led offensively by Blair Winston who is averaging 3.12 kills/set. The junior outside hitter has posted double-digit kills in all but three matches she has played in this season. Fellow junior Darby Griff was selected to the all-tournament team last weekend after averaging a team-best 2.82 kills/set at the Active Ankle Challenge.

Tineille Waggoner is averaging 9.49 assists/set for Troy, the fourth best mark in the Sun Belt as the Trojans are hitting .227 as a team and holding opponents to a .185 attack percentage.

Defensively, Troy is near the top of the Sun Belt at 2.17 blocks/set with Griff (0.95 b/s) and Kiah Cheatham (0.84 b/s) leading the way. Ali Dowdall leads the Trojans with a 3.70 digs/set average.