Box Score MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Trojans clinched its second tournament title in as many weeks as UALR (7-4) defeated Memphis (7-5) 25-18, 25-21, 25-21 Friday night (Sept. 20) in the final match of the first day of the Tiger Invitational.
UALR outhit Memphis .227-.083 and edged Memphis 37-31 in total kills. The Trojans also doubled up the Tigers at the net, 10-5.
Junior Edina Begic recorded her seventh double-double of the season, recording match-bests in kills (16) and digs (14). Junior Marleen de Zoete contributed a solid match with 32 assists, seven digs and five blocks. Freshman Rachel Williams hit .444 with five kills and one error on nine attempts while redshirt freshman Carolee Dillard had seven assisted blocks.
Dillard finished the day with 15 total blocks in seven sets played.
Catlin Lilly led Memphis with nine kills and digs. Veronica Zimmerman recorded the double-double with 24 assists and 11 digs while Alexis Petronijevic matched Begic with 14 digs.
UALR pushed Memphis from the first serve, racing out to a 4-0 lead in set one on a Memphis error, a Dillard kill and a pair of Begic spikes. UALR led 11-7 later in the frame before a 7-2 run gave the Tigers a slim 14-13 lead. A Lilly kill and a sophomore Sonja Milanovic error cut the Trojans lead in half before de Zoete tallied her lone kill for the match. A Milanovic service error and kills from Lilly and MacKenzie Hayes tied the set at 12. Begic put UALR back in front with a kill but spikes from UM's Zimmerman and Viktorija Teivane gave Memphis its lone lead of the set.
UALR retied the set at 14 on a Memphis error and a de Zoete ace and Begic kills put the Trojans in the lead. Memphis tied the frame at 17, but UALR responded with an 8-1 run. Williams started the run with a kill followed by a Memphis error and another Williams kill. A Begic kill and another Tigers error put UALR up 22-17. Junior Adisa Hodzic hit a serve wide, but a Milanovic kill and a pair of de Zoete-Dillard assisted blocks ended the first set.
For the frame, UALR hit .333 compared to .083 for the home team.
Set two saw the Tigers win the first point, but it would be the only lead in the set for Memphis. A Tiger error tied the set before kills by Begic and Milanovic pushed the UALR lead to 3-1. Milanovic tallied an ace to put the exclamation point on the 4-0 run for the Trojans.
UALR led 22-16 later in the set before a 5-0 run by the Tiger cut the UALR lead to one. UALR responded strong with kills from Begic and Hodzic. Junior Capri Rino's lone service ace ended the frame. Memphis outhit UALR .323-.313 but still trailed by two sets going into intermission.
Tied at 18 in the third set, UALR closed out the frame on a 7-2 spurt for its second straight sweep of the Tigers in Elma Roane Fieldhouse. Begic notched her 16th kill before a UM attack error and a Williams kill put UALR up 21-18. Two UALR errors cut the lead to one. However, the Trojans went on match points thanks to a pair of Memphis errors around a Milanovic kill. A Milanovic error kept the Tigers alive, but Memphis hit its third service error to end the match.
UALR only hit .031 for the set but held Memphis to a -.150 to close out the day.
The Trojans return to action Saturday (Sept. 21) in its final pre-Sun Belt Conference match against La Salle at 3 p.m. It is the first meeting between the Explorers and Trojans with UALR a 3-0 record in 2013 when facing a team for the first time.
