Louisiana, ULM To Visit Little Rock This Weekend

Match Notes (PDF)

Match 20: Louisiana vs. Little Rock
Friday, Oct. 23 • 6:30 p.m.
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
Live Stats | Live Video

Match 21: ULM vs. Little Rock
Sunday, Oct. 25 • 12:00 p.m.
Little Rock, Ark. • Jack Stephens Center
Live Stats | Live Video

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock volleyball (8-11, 4-5 Sun Belt) welcomes Louisiana (5-18, 1-9) and ULM (12-12, 2-7) to the Jack Stephens Center for matches on Friday at 6:30 p.m., and Sunday at noon.
 
The Trojans will host their annual Dig Pink match on Friday against Louisiana. The team will be giving away 150 pink bracelets, and the UAMS Cancer Institute and Relay For Life will be on site. There will also be a raffle for a pink jersey and a team-signed ball with all proceeds being donated to the Side-Out Foundation.
 
FIRST SERVE

• Little Rock is 35-8 all-time against Louisiana and 17-3 when playing in Little Rock.
• The Trojans are 26-2 all-time against ULM and are 12-1 when playing in Little Rock.
• Little Rock has won 24 straight matches against the Warhawks.
• Carolee Dillard is just five block away from becoming the fourth Trojan player with 400 blocks for her career.
• Dillard has the 10th-most blocks per set for her career among active Division I players.
• The Trojans will go for their 60th win inside the Jack Stephens Center.
• Little Rock continues to the lead the blocking battle in the Sun Belt.

 
SCOUTING LOUISIANA (5-18, 1-9 SUN BELT)
The Ragin' Cajuns come into the weekend with losses in their last five matches. Louisiana was swept by McNeese State on Tuesday night after taking losses to Georgia Southern and Troy at home this past weekend.
 
Sara Mossakowski and Chanelle Gardner lead the charge on offense with 2.37 and 2.33 kills per set, respectively. Gardner is the team's most efficient hitter at .267.
 
On defense, Gardner is the most proficient blocker with 65 total blocks at a rate of 0.77 per set. Sydney Davis scoops up the majority of digs with 276 at a rate of 3.25 per set. Davis is also the Cajuns' best server with a team-leading 18 aces for the season.
 
SCOUTING ULM (12-12, 2-7 SUN BELT)
After starting the conference schedule with two wins, ULM has lost its last seven matches. During that span, the Warhawks have only won three of the last 24 sets in Sun Belt play. ULM was able to earn a win over Grambling State in straight sets on Monday night.
 
Hope Pawlik leads on offense with 231 kills and 2.92 kills per set. Setter Bayleigh Hoffman has 8.70 assists per set for the season, totaling 713 in all. Hoffman and Hadley Swartz are the team's best servers with 34 and 30 aces, respectively.
 
On defense, Kaitlyn Shearer takes charge with 73 total blocks while averaging 0.92 blocks per set. When it comes to digs, the numbers are spread out with Tara Jenkins averageing 2.90 per set, Taylor Zaeske with 2.88 per set, Pawlik with 2.43 per set and Swartz with 2.13 per set.
 
SERIES AGAINST LOUISIANA
The Trojans are 35-8 all-time against the Ragin' Cajuns since playing in 1991. In that time, Little Rock has taken a commanding 17-3 lead when playing in the state capital. The Trojans took both matches last year as Little Rock swept the Ragin' Cajuns at home before winning on the road in four.
 
In last year's match at home, Edina Selimovic tallied match-highs for block assists and aces (two). As a team, Little Rock tallied 14 total blocks and hit .322 for the match.
 
SERIES AGAINST ULM
Little Rock is 26-2 all-time against ULM. After the Warhawks won the opening two matches of the series in 1991 and 1992, the series has been in the Trojans' favor ever since as Little Rock has gone on to win the last 24 matches. In Little Rock, the Trojans hold a series record of 12-1.
 
In last year's Sun Belt opener in Little Rock, Carolee Dillard recorded four block assists in the Trojans' sweep of the Warhawks. Little Rock's third set win of 25-6 was the second-best in program history.
 
A FORCE AT THE NET
With five blocks this weekend, Carolee Dillard will become just the fourth player in program history with 400 career blocks and the third Sun Belt player in the rally-scoring era to reach the milestone. Dillard is the second Trojan to accomplish this feat in the rally-scoring era as Ivanka Davidova recorded a program-record 564 from 2004 to 2007.
 
With 1.25 blocks per set for her career, Dillard ranks 10th among active players in Division I and is the fifth-best junior in the field. At 395 blocks for her career, Dillard has the 20th-most blocks among active Division I players and has the third-most for a junior. Dillard's totals are the most among active Sun Belt Conference players.
 
SUCCESS AT 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 59-33 and a 56-31 record against conference opponents.
 
HITTING THE MARK
With a .353 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 seventh-most kills per set in the conference at 3.26 per set.
 
In Sun Belt matches, Selimovic has the third-best hitting percentage at .343 and the seventh-most kills per set at 3.27.
 
With a .338 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.

BLOCK PARTY
At 2.56 blocks per set for the year, Little Rock is the best blocking team in the Sun Belt, and it ranks 37th nationally.
 
In conference-only action, the Trojans are even more impressive with an average of 2.86 per set.
 
A WIN AGAINST LOUISIANA WOULD…
...put the Trojans back at .500 for conference play. A win would also be the Trojans' third straight victory over Louisiana.
 
A WIN AGAINST ULM WOULD…
…be Little Rock's 25th consecutive win over the Warhawks.
 
WINS AGAINST LOUISIANA AND ULM WOULD…
…put the Trojans back over .500 for conference play. It would also be the second straight year that Little Rock has won the season series against both teams.
 
SEASON AND CAREER NUMBERS WATCH

• With 370 digs for the year Priscila Almeida needs just eight digs to crack the top 10 for most digs in a single season.
• With 30 digs this weekend, Almeida would become the ninth Trojan to record 400 digs in a single season.
• Marina Avram is 19 kills shy of 200 for her career.
• Carolee Dillard is five total blocks shy of becoming the fourth Trojan in program history to record 400 blocks.
• Sydnee Martin is one service ace shy of her 20th of the season. Martin is also seven digs away from her 150th.
• Miona Milovanovic is 15 kills away from posting 300 for her career.

 
NEXT UP
After this weekend's matches, Little Rock will seek revenge for its five-set loss at home against Arkansas State earlier this month with a trip to Jonesboro on Wednesday night.