Little Rock Faces South Alabama on Saturday

Match Notes (PDF)

Match 19: South Alabama vs. Little Rock
Saturday, Oct. 17 • 6:30 p.m.
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
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LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock volleyball (8-10, 4-4 Sun Belt) continues conference play as it faces the South Alabama Jaguars (10-8, 4-3) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., inside the Jack Stephens Center.
 
The Trojans will be hosting Serve's Up Beach Volleyball Night sponsored by Tropical Smoothie Café. The first 200 fans will receive a Hawaiian lei and a coupon to Tropical Smoothie Café. Tropical attire is encouraged.
 
FIRST SERVE

• Priscila Almeida earned Sun Belt Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week honors on Monday.
• With 2.58 blocks per set, Little Rock leads the Sun Belt and is ranked 33rd nationally.
• Carolee Dillard and Edina Selimovic remain the best blocking duo in the Sun Belt.
• Little Rock will go for its 60th all-time win inside the Jack Stephens Center.
• The Trojans are 28-4 all-time against South Alabama and are 12-1 when playing in Little Rock.
• Little Rock has won 24 of the last 25 meetings with South Alabama.
• Edina Selimovic has the second-best hitting percentage in the conference at .351.
• Almeida currently has the most digs per set in the rally-scoring era for Little Rock.
• Dillard is 10 total blocks away from becoming the fourth Trojan with 400 for her career.

 
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA (10-8, 4-3 SUN BELT)
The Jaguars come into the weekend on a two-game winning streak with a four-set win at Louisiana and a sweep at ULM. Before facing Little Rock on Saturday, South Alabama will face Arkansas State on Friday night in Jonesboro.
 
Mechell Daniel leads the Jags offense with 3.63 kills per set while hitting .266 for the year. In conference play, Daniel is getting 4.14 kills per set and hitting a team-high .293. Setter Emma Anderson has 632 assists for the year at a rate of 9.29 per set.
 
South Alabama has a pair of blockers leading the defense in Nikki Gittens and Sarah Richardson. Gittens leads the team with 71 blocks for the season while Richardson is only one behind at 70. In conference play, Gittens leads the charge with 30 blocks at a rate of 1.07 per set. Emily Hundt is averaging 4.93 digs per set in Sun Belt play while recording 3.84 digs per set.
 
SERIES AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA
Little Rock is 28-4 all-time against South Alabama. The Trojans have made the Jags' road trips difficult as Little Rock is 12-1 when playing in Little Rock. Of the last 25 matches played against South Alabama since 1996, Little Rock has won 24 of them.
 
DEFENSIVE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
After recording a conference-high 5.92 digs per set for the week, Little Rock's Priscila Almeida has been named the Sun Belt Conference's Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon.
 
Last Friday, Almeida recorded a match-high 34 digs against Appalachian State, the most in a four-set match in the rally-scoring era at Little Rock. Almeida's total tied for the seventh-most in a rally-scoring match and tied for the ninth-most in program history.
 
Almeida started the week with a match-high 25 digs against rival Arkansas State, and she finished the week with a team-high 18 digs against Georgia State.
 
Almeida is the first Trojan to win the Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week award this season and is the third overall award winner for Little Rock this year. Edina Selimovic won the Offensive Student-Athlete of Week award in back-to-back fashion earlier this season.
 
BLOCK PARTY
At 2.58 blocks per set for the year, Little Rock is the best blocking team in the Sun Belt, and it ranks 33rd nationally.
 
In conference-only action, the Trojans are even more impressive with an average of 2.97 per set.
 
TOP BLOCKING DUO
Carolee Dillard and Edina Selimovic are once again the top blocking duo in the Sun Belt for the second consecutive season. Dillard is on top of the Sun Belt with 1.21 blocks per set and totals 81 for the year. Selimovic is right behind her with 1.116 blocks per set and 78 total.
 
In conference play, the two are completely unmatched as Selimovic leads with 46 total blocks at a rate of 1.44 per set while Dillard trails by only two blocks at 44 with a rate of 1.38 per set. Dillard also has the most solo blocks in conference play with nine.
 
SUCCESS IN THE JACK
A win on Saturday would be Little Rock's 60th win in the Jack Stephens Center since the building opened in 2005. The Trojans have been very successful in the Jack as they sport an overall record of 59-32 and a 56-30 record against conference opponents.
 
HITTING THE MARK
With a .351 hitting percentage for the year, Edina Selimovic has the second-best hitting percentage in the Sun Belt Conference this year. In that time, Selimovic has recorded the eighth-most kills per set in the conference at 3.21 per set.
 
In Sun Belt matches, Selimovic has the fourth-best hitting percentage at .338 and the eighth-most kills per set at 3.16.
 
With a .337 career-hitting percentage, Selimovic is currently the most efficient hitter in program history and is on pace to stay that way. Last year, Selimovic recorded the fifth-highest hitting percentage in program history at .321 as she recorded 202 kills on 442 attempts.
 
THE SCOOP ON ALMEIDA
Priscila Almeida has been a game changer for the Trojans' defense this season. At 5.18 digs per set, Almeida has the 15th-most digs per set in the nation and second-most in the Sun Belt Conference. 

At 5.18 digs per set, Priscila Almeida currently has the most digs per set in the rally-scoring era by a wide margin. She is one of two Trojans since 2001 to have more than 4.00 digs per set for their career with the other being Amy Hafner who recorded 4.61 per set from 2007 to 2008.
 
At 347 digs for the year, Almeida is only 30 digs shy of cracking the top 10 for digs in a single season at Little Rock. Her digs total ranks 39th in the country.
 
A WIN AGAINST SOUTH ALABAMA WOULD…
…be Little Rock's eighth consecutive win over the Jagaurs and would be Trojans' 25th win in the last 26 matches against South Alabama.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH

• At 75 aces, Edina Selimovic needs only two to pass former Trojan and current graduate assistant coach Anita Bucur for the eighth most service aces in the rally-scoring era at Little Rock.
• Carolee Dillard is just 10 total blocks away from eclipsing the 400-mark for her career. Dillard would be just the fourth Trojan to accomplish this feat in program history.
• Freshman Veronica Marin reached 50 total blocks this past weekend.
• Junior Miona Milovanovic is only four total blocks away from 90 for her career.

 
NEXT UP
Little Rock will have six days before welcoming Louisiana to the Jack Stephens Center for its annual Dig Pink match on Friday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. After the conclusion of that match, the Trojans face ULM on Sunday, Oct. 25 at noon.