Trojans Take First Sun Belt Loss at Texas State

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Little Rock volleyball (7-7, 3-1 Sun Belt) took its first conference loss since 2013 as it fell 3-1 (13-25, 25-18, 10-25, 22-25) at Texas State on Thursday night.
 
Little Rock got off to a rocky start as Texas State led the duration of the first set and took the frame 25-13.
 
The second set was much tighter as both squads remained within three points of each other until Texas State took a four-point lead at 17-13, forcing a Little Rock timeout. After the timeout, the Trojans scored four straight points to tie the set and force a Bobcat timeout. At 18-18, Little Rock dominated the rest of the set with seven consecutive points to win 25-18. After hitting .115 in the first set, Little Rock nearly doubled its hitting percentage in the second frame at .304. The Bobcats cooled off quite a bit, hitting .143 for the set after hitting .542 in the first frame.
 
After a hot second set, the Trojans went cold in the third frame. Texas State had two big runs with a 10-point run early in the frame and a streak of eight points in the middle of the set. The Bobcats ultimately took the set and match lead with a 25-10 win.
 
Little Rock started the fourth frame with a 2-0 lead before Texas State responded with a kill and an ace. Both squads remained neck and neck until the Trojans took a four-point lead at 12-8 on four straight points. Still ahead by four at 14-10, Texas State wen on a 5-1 run to knot the set at 15-15 and force a Little Rock timeout. With an 18-17 lead, Little Rock gave up three straight points on two Texas State kills and an ace. The Trojans got within a point at 20-19 and again at 22-21, but a 3-1 run by Texas State clinched the set and match.
 
Megan Mathis finished with seven kills, a .461 hitting percentage on 13 attempts, 25 assists and three block assists.
 
Edina Selimovic earned 10 kills, two aces and five block assists while Carolee Dillard finished with six kills and six total blocks (two solo and four assisted).
 
Marina Avram ended the night with five kills, seven digs and three block assists, and Miona Milovanovic tallied four kills and two block assists.
 
Priscila Almeida led the Trojans with 15 digs while Sydnee Martin and Kelsey Leech racked up nine and five, respectively.
 
Little Rock returns to action against UT Arlington on Saturday in Arlington, Texas, at 1 p.m.