Cajuns Best Trojans in Four Sets

LAFAYETTE, La. – In its fourth Sun Belt contest of the season, Little Rock volleyball fell 3-1 (19-25, 14-25, 25-18, 20-15) to division leader Louisiana on Saturday night at Earl K. Long Gymnasium.
 
Marina Avram led the Trojans (5-11, 1-3 Sun Belt) with 19 kills on a career-high 60 attacks while tallying six digs. Taylor Lindberg came up with her second consecutive double-double as she had a match-high 37 assists with 10 digs, four kills, three block assists and one ace. Sydnee Martin had a match-high 20 digs while Daisha Gillard tied Lindberg for the team's most blocks with three. Maritza Mesa had a career-high four aces with 11 digs and eight kills. Veronica Marin had a team-high .292 hitting percentage with nine kills, a season-high six digs and two block assists.
 
For the Ragin' Cajuns (10-7, 4-0 Sun Belt), Nia Antoine had a match-high .500 hitting percentage with 15 kills. Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn had a double-double with 36 assists and 11 digs. Defensively, Sydney Davis had 19 digs while Dree'Ana Abram had a match-high five blocks.
 
The Cajuns took the first set by six points after hitting .282 while the Trojans hit .200. Little Rock had the advantage in kills (14-13), assists (12-11) and digs (22-18). However, the Cajuns committed four fewer attack errors and had one more ace than the Trojans. Avram and Marin each put down four kills while Lindberg set the tempo with 11 assists. Martin had a team-high seven digs for Little Rock.
 
Little Rock had a rough go of it in the second set as it hit just .079 compared to Louisiana's .462 and took an 11-point loss. Marina Avram added four kills to her total while Martin added five digs.
 
After falling in the first two sets, Little Rock rebounded nicely in the third set with a seven-point win. Tied at 11, Mesa served up four consecutive aces to give Little Rock the lead for good. The Trojans hit .179 for the set while the Cajuns hit just .048. Avram led the set with five kills while Gillard had a set-high three blocks.
 
The momentum seemed to be in Little Rock's favor to begin the fourth set as the Trojans took a four-point lead at 14-10. Still up by three at 17-14, Louisiana went on a four-point run to take the lead. Tied at 18, the Cajuns finished the match on a 7-2 run. Avram once again led the set with six kills while Lindberg put up 11 assists. Little Rock finished the set hitting .143 while Louisiana hit .209.
 
Jovana Cernjanksi ended the match with a career-high 13 digs. Tamaira Armstrong and Mya Robinson each had two kills while Robinson also dug up five digs.
 
Little Rock tallied the most kills (50-49), but Louisiana had the advantage in hitting (.227-.151), assists (43-42), digs (75-73) and blocks (12-5). Both teams served up five aces.
 
Little Rock returns to action against Texas State on Friday night at the Jack Stephens Center.