By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It was two wins for the price of one.

The Troup High volleyball team not only got a win over rival LaGrange on Tuesday night, but it also collected its first region victory of the season.

After dropping its region opener to Sandy Creek earlier on Tuesday, Troup bounced back later in the day for a straight-sets win over home-standing LaGrange.

Troup beat LaGrange in straight sets, 25-10 and 25-10, to even its region record at 1-1.

Against a Sandy Creek team expected to compete not just for a region title but

state championship, Troup lost 25-22 and 25-12.

“The first game (against Sandy Creek), we did our best, and I was really excited for our girls,” Troup head Leigh Bailey said. “If we keep getting better, we should at least be able to play with them. It’s one thing to get beat by someone that’s better. If we’re playing our best, we’ve got a chance.”

After a short break, Troup returned to the court and had no trouble with a LaGrange team that lost to Chapel Hill in its first match on Tuesday.

“They played up (against LaGrange), and they played technically sound, which you have to do to get better,” Bailey said. “You have to pass the ball correctly, you have to hit the ball in, and don’t make errors.”

Bailey added that “it’s easy for them to get up against LaGrange because they’re our rival.

“Their energy level’s up. Sometimes you have to calm them down a little bit. You have to keep it together, and they did a good job of that.”

Troup has an overall record below .500, but the team has played a rugged schedule.

“I’m trying to get us better,” Bailey said. “If we don’t play better teams, it’s hard to imagine the girls hitting a ball that fast. I think that kind of helps us when we go up against Sandy Creek. It’s coming straight down. It gives us way to get better. So our record isn’t that good, but we’re just now starting to gel together.”

Troup is an experienced team, with seven seniors who have been playing alongside each other for four or five years leading the way.

The seniors are Kyla Bailey, McKenzie Murphy, Morgan Taylor, Paige Clark, Maegan Webb, Taylor Doughman and Kate Moore.

Those seniors helped Troup reach the second round of the Class AAAA state tournament last season.

“This is the group I started coaching with,” said Bailey, whose daughter Kyla is one of the seniors. “I started with them in the eighth grade, so I’m very excited to have them. Of course my daughter’s a senior, so I try not to be too emotional, and I’m being pretty good right now. As the season goes a long it’ll be harder.”