Trojans Pick Up 3-0 Sweep at South Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. – Little Rock volleyball (12-12, 8-6 Sun Belt) earned a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) over the South Alabama Jaguars (13-12, 7-7) on Friday afternoon at Jaguar Gymnasium in Mobile.
 
Edina Selimovic led the Trojans with 14 kills and .333 hitting percentage while Marina Avram earned 11 and 11 digs to earn her fourth double-double of the season. Taylor Lindberg recorded 34 assists while. Priscila Almeida led the Trojans with 15 digs and was one of four Little Rock players with double-digit dig totals.
 
The match started with a tightly contest first set as both teams stayed within three points of each other for the duration of the frame. Tied 23-23, a block by Dillard and Marin gave the Trojans set point and forced a Jaguar timeout. Out of the timeout, Miona Milovanovic took a hard swing and earned the kill to end the set with a 25-23 Trojan victory. Little Rock hit .200 for the set compared to South Alabama's .111. Selimovic led the set with five kills, Dillard led with three block assists and Lindberg hauled in a set-high 12 assists.
 
Little Rock remained strong in the second frame. The Jaguars grabbed a brief lead at 3-2 but the Trojans then grabbed the lead and held onto it until both squads tied at 15-15. A kill by Marin gave Little Rock the lead once more, and the Trojans stayed out front for the remainder of the frame. Little Rock's largest lead of the set came at 13-7 with a kill from Selimovic. After two sets, Avram led the match in kills with nine while Lindberg and Carolee Dillard led with 25 assists and four block assists, respectively. The Trojans were outhit .314 to .268 in the frame, but the Jaguars' three serving errors ultimately gave Little Rock the advantage.
 
The Trojans led well into the third set before the Jaguars took the lead at 18-17. Down 19-17, Little Rock responded with a four-point run to take a 21-19 lead and force a South Alabama timeout. Out of the timeout, the Jags took a point on a Trojan ball handling error before Little Rock closed out the match with a four-point run to win the set 25-20 and sweep South Alabama.
 
Dillard earned nine kills, hit .300 and tallied four block assists. Milovanovic finished with seven kills and hit .286 for the match. Veronica Marin ended the match with four kills and two block assists.
 
Sydnee Martin finished with 13 digs and a service ace while Kelsey Leech tallied 12.
 
The Trojans' 62 digs tied for the seventh-most in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era at Little Rock.
 
Little Rock will look to sweep the weekend when it returns to action at Troy on Sunday at noon.