Box Score FORT WORTH, Texas – UALR volleyball got off to a great start at the TCU Nike Invitational against Miami as the Trojans downed the Hurricanes 3-1 (30-32, 25-17, 25-17, 25-28) on Friday.
The victory marked UALR's second ever win over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. UALR's last win against an ACC team came on September 14, 2002, against North Carolina State.
Sophomore setter Megan Mathis increased her career high for assists for the fourth consecutive match with 49 and set a new career high in blocks with four. Senior hitter Edina Begic ended the match with 24 kills and 14 digs. Junior Sonja Milanovic had a double-double as well with 19 kills and 13 digs. Carolee Dillard added five blocks, nine kills and nine digs while senior libero Capri Rino also contributed on defense with 12 digs.
Begic's career kill total continues to climb as she only needs 11 more to earn the title of career kills leader at UALR.
While the Trojans looked convincing in the second, third and fourth sets as they lead nearly the entirety of those frames, the first set was a tense, back-and-forth affair that went into extra points.
The Trojans and the Hurricanes traded the lead throughout the set, but ultimately Miami secured the set win by a score of 32-30. The team had five different opportunities to claim the set, but Miami stormed back each time to force another tie. The Trojans' largest lead of the set was five at 15-10, but from there the Hurricanes tightened the gap and turned the set into a marathon. With the Trojans ahead 30-29, Miami rattled off three consecutive points to take the frame. A Kelsie Groot kill sealed it for the Hurricanes.
Mathis tallied four assists and two blocks in the first 11 Trojan points and ended the set with 16 assists and two blocks. Begic had nine kills and six digs while Milanovic had six kills and seven digs. Dillard contributed two blocks on defense, and Rino recorded her second career kill as well in the first set. The set was the first 30-point frame by UALR since Oct. 25, 2013, against Troy.
After the heartbreak of losing the first set, things started to turn UALR's way in the later sets. In the second, the Trojans got out to an 11-4 lead and eventually stretched their lead to eight points at 20-12. After a kill by Milanovic, the Trojans took the second set by a score of 25-17.
Dillard added another two blocks in the set to bring her total to four. Mathis added 10 more assists, giving her 26 assists through two sets. Begic added two kills to bring her total to 11. Milanovic added four more kills to reach double digits.
In the third set, the Trojans again looked great from the start. Begic reached her 47thcareer double-double, and Mathis bested her previous career high when she racked up her 35th set of the night. The Hurricanes led as late as 13-12 in the set before the Trojans tied the score and went ahead for good. Still, Miami kept it close and was within one point at 17-16 before UALR pulled away and scored the final six points of the set including three consecutive kills by Dillard.
In the fourth set, the Trojans wrapped up the match by taking an early lead once again and holding on. UALR went up 6-1, and Miami never got closer than four points for the rest of the set.
UALR returns to action later Friday against Prairie View at 3 p.m.
