Box Score LITTLE ROCK – The UALR volleyball team's seniors said goodbye to the Jack Stephens Center in style, sweeping South Alabama 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon.
On Senior Day in front of a very supportive crowd, the Trojans (25-4, 19-0 Sun Belt Conference) completed their perfect home schedule and stretched their overall winning streak to 20 matches. UALR can close out a perfect conference schedule with a win at Arkansas State on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Senior Edina Begic netted 11 kills and added six digs and three total blocks. Senior Adisa Hodzic had nine kills in her final home game as well, and senior Capri Rino totaled eight digs.
Junior Sonja Milanovic led the team with 13 kills and 11 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.
The first set saw UALR dominate from the start. The Trojans took a 16-7 lead before the Jaguars were forced to use their first timeout, and the lead only grew from there. UALR was up by 10 points at 17-7, 18-8, 19-9 and 20-11 before the Jaguars made a late push. But by then it was too late, and Carolee Dillard hammered home the final spike of the set as the Trojans took it 25-17. Setter Megan Mathis had a season-high 15 assists in the first frame.
The second frame was more of the same. The Trojans went ahead 11-4 when South Alabama used its first timeout, but UALR would eventually stretch its lead to nine as the team continued to block Jaguar attacks and spike down attacks of its own. Milanovic had nine kills by the time the set was over, and Begic had eight.
The third set was the tightest of the afternoon. The teams traded blows for much of the set, and they were tied as late as 16-16. But UALR took over from there, going on a 7-0 scoring run thanks to the serving of Rino. A South Alabama service error sealed the victory.
Milanovic's .370 attack percentage was her third-highest this season while her 13 kills were her third-most in a three-set match this season.
Sophomore setter Megan Mathis tallied her most assists in a three-set match this season with 38.
Senior Adisa Hodzic racked up her highest kill total of the season with nine, as well as her highest attack percentage of the year with .750.
Sophomore Edina Selimovic put up her fourth-highest hitting percentage of the season with .667.
Senior Edina Begic's 11 kills give her 2,075 kills for her career. At 5,135 attack attempts, she has almost 1,000 more than second place in UALR history.
Coach Van Compton tied the Sun Belt all-time conference wins record of 215 with today's win.
As a team, UALR recorded its third-highest attack percentage of the season with .416
UALR will look to finish the conference schedule undefeated when it returns to action on Saturday night when it travels to rival Arkansas State for a 7 p.m. first serve.
