Dillard Records 400th-Career Block in Sweep of Cajuns

LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan volleyball team saw a milestone on Friday night as Carolee Dillard became just the fourth Trojan in program history to record her 400th career block as Little Rock earned a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-16) sweep of Louisiana at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
Dillard, a redshirt junior, earned one solo block and had a part in five combo blocks on the night, helping the Trojans to a 13-4 edge in blocks over the Ragin' Cajuns. Little Rock's 13 blocks tied for the fourth-most in a three-set match in the rally-scoring.
 
Miona Milovanovic was the only Little Rock player in double digits for kills with 10, but Edina Selimovic added nine, Dillard had seven and Marina Avram notched six. Freshman Taylor Lindberg led the team with 28 assists while Priscila Almeida topped the Trojans with 16 digs.
 
Little Rock (9-11, 5-5 Sun Belt Conference) got its first sweep of conference play since September 25 when it blanked Troy at the Jack Stephens Center. The win is also Little Rock's second in three matches.
 
Louisiana (5-19, 1-10) had a very bad night hitting thanks to the Trojan block, finishing at -.017 as a team. The Cajuns combined for 29 attack errors.
 
The first set saw the Cajuns jump out to an early lead at 8-6, but that's when the Trojans took over the frame. From there, Little Rock went on an 8-0 run behind the service of Marina Avram, taking an 11-8 lead and forcing the Cajuns to take a timeout. Dillard was a force at the net, combining for three blocks at that early stage.
 
Little Rock again forced a Louisiana timeout leading 17-10, but by then it was too late for the Cajuns to regroup. Milovanovic finished things with her sixth kill of the night, giving the Trojans an eight-point set win.
 
The second set was much more tightly contested after the early portion. Little Rock got out to a 10-5 lead, causing the Cajuns to take a timeout. Despite scoring the next point after the timeout, the Trojans dropped the next five as the Cajuns rallied to an 11-10 deficit.
 
The teams battled close for the rest of the set, with Little Rock only managing to pull away slightly at the end. With the set knotted at 16-16, the Trojans scored three consecutive points on two Louisiana attack errors and a Selimovic kill. Louisiana came back within one point at 22-21, but a kill by Dillard, a block combo from Dillard and Veronica Marin and another Cajun attack error ended the set with a four-point Trojan win.
 
The third set was the most lopsided of the night, with Louisiana putting up a fight only in the dying moments. Little Rock led by as many as 11 points in the set, taking a 20-9 lead on an Avram kill. The Cajuns got back within eight points at 24-16, making the Trojans take a timeout to calm down. But a block by Selimovic and Marin finished things off.
 
Sydnee Martin recorded an ace and had the second-most digs for the Trojans with 10. Kelsey Leech added an ace and five digs.
 
Selimovic and Veronica Marin ended the match with five block assists with Marin adding three kills to her totals. Lindberg also had three blocks (one solo and two assisted) for the night.
 
The Trojans finish up a three-game home swing on Sunday when ULM comes to the Jack Stephens Center for a noon first serve.