LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock volleyball team clinched a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament for the fifth consecutive year on Saturday night with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-21) victory over Georgia Southern at the Jack Stephens Center.
After dropping the first set in narrow fashion, the Trojans (11-12, 7-6 Sun Belt Conference) rebounded thanks to a vastly improved hitting percentage. The team hit just .200 in the first set but improved that to .500 in the second set and .353 in the third set before forcing 10 Georgia Southern (8-16, 3-9) errors in the fourth set.
Because the Trojans have seven victories on the year and ninth-place ULM can only achieve seven victories if it wins out, Little Rock can no longer fall lower than eighth place in the standings and clinched a berth in the league tournament. If both teams finish with seven wins, the Trojans own the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Warhawks thanks to a 3-0 victory on Oct. 25.
Edina Selimovic led the Trojans with 13 kills, a match-high .440 hitting percentage and a match-high seven blocks (two solo and five assisted).
Miona Milovanovic also reached double digits with 10 kills.
Taylor Lindberg recorded her second-career double-double as she picked up 40 assist and 11 digs.
Priscila Almeida had a match-high 21 digs.
The Trojans also had a sizeable advantage in blocking, earning a 16-9 win in that category. Selimovic factored in on seven blocks,
Carolee Dillard picked up six blocks and Milovanovic and
Veronica Marin had five blocks apiece.
The first set saw the visitors take control early. The Eagles scored the first four points of the set, and the Trojans' deficit only grew from there. Little Rock got as close as two points early in the set, but the Eagles rallied back and held a 14-9 advantage as the Trojans took a timeout. Little Rock took its second timeout at 19-11 to stop the bleeding, and it worked for a bit. The Trojans fought back within two points at 24-22, but Stephanie Spencer ended the Little Rock threat with a set-clinching kill. Cathrine Murray had nine kills for Georgia Southern in the first set.
The second set was all Little Rock at the start, with the Trojans scoring the first six points on three blocks, a service ace and a Georgia Southern attacking error. The Trojans' lead grew as large as 10 points with a 17-7 edge before the Eagles began to cut into it. Georgia Southern got as close as five points at 23-18, but they never really threatened as the Trojans took the set by seven.
In the third set, Little Rock again led from the beginning. This time, they didn't let the Eagles get back in things. The Trojans maintained a lead of double the Eagles' score almost throughout the set, holding leads of 14-7 and 20-10 at the two Georgia Southern timeouts. The Trojans would eventually take the set by 12 on a kill from Selimovic.
In the early going of the fourth set, neither team was able to take a sizeable lead. But with a narrow 7-6 lead, the Trojans began to pull away. The team went on a 6-0 run behind the service of Lindberg, earning two kills, an ace, a block and two attack errors by the Eagles. Georgia Southern briefly got within three points trailing 24-21 and force a Trojan timeout, but Milovanovic ended things for good with a kill to take the set by four points.
This is the second straight match in which Lindberg has recorded at least 40 digs as she tallied 41 on Wednesday at Arkansas State. Lindberg also tied a career-high with two aces while earning three blocks.
Carolee Dillard earned eight kills while
Marina Avram took home nine.
Veronica Marin hit a career-high .438 as she racked up seven kills on 16 attempts with no errors. Marin's seven kills were the most in a four-set match for her career thus far.
In addition to her 10 kills, Milovanovic's five blocks (two solo and three assisted) tied a career-high.
Kelsey Leech tied Lindberg for the match-high in aces with two as she also hauled in three digs.
Sydnee Martin scooped up six digs and had a rare kill for the second consecutive match, bringing her freshman total to three.
Little Rock's 16 total blocks were the second-most this season while its .286 hitting percentage for the match was the fourth-highest of the year.
Little Rock heads on the road next weekend, taking on South Alabama on Friday at 6:30 p.m., before closing their road schedule with Troy on Nov. 8 at noon.
