Trojans Hope to Excel in Memphis Invitational

Match Notes (PDF)

Match 7: Little Rock vs. Auburn
Friday, Sept. 11 • 12 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. • Elma Roane Fieldhouse
Live Stats
 
Match 8: Little Rock vs. Tennessee Tech
Friday, Sept. 11 • 5 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. • Elma Roane Fieldhouse
Live Stats

Match 9: Little Rock vs. UAPB
Saturday, Sept. 12 • 2 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. • Elma Roane Fieldhouse
Live Stats

Match 10: Little Rock at Memphis
Saturday, Sept. 12 • 7 p.m.
Memphis, Tenn. • Elma Roane Fieldhouse
Live Stats | Live Video

LITTLE ROCK – After a second-place finish at the Oklahoma Nike Invitational this past weekend, Little Rock volleyball (2-4) looks to win the Memphis Invitational against Auburn (4-2), Tennessee Tech (0-6), UAPB (0-7) and tournament-host Memphis (4-2) starting on Friday at 12 p.m.
 
FIRST SERVE

• Little Rock earned its first two wins of the season last weekend against Central Arkansas and North Texas.
• Through six matches, Little Rock has the third-most blocks per set and fourth-best hitting percentage among Sun Belt schools.
• Edina Selimovic and Megan Mathis earned Oklahoma Nike Invitational All-Tournament Team honors.
• The last time Little Rock started the season at 2-4 was in 2013, compiling a 20-11 overall record for the season.
• Kelsey Leech is tied for the fifth-most aces and has the fourth-most aces per set in the conference.
• The Trojans' .291 hitting percentage, 56 kills, 50 assists, 61 digs and 14 total blocks against Central Arkansas were the highest totals of the season.
• Little Rock has the opportunity to win its second consecutive preconference tournament at Memphis.

SERIES AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
Little Rock owns the series lead over UAPB by a 3-0 margin and has won all nine sets against the Golden Lions. Little Rock and UAPB last met on Sept. 16, 2011 with the Trojans dominating the match with scores of 25-7, 25-9, and 25-9.
Against Memphis, the series is tied at 8-8, but Little Rock owns the series lead when playing in Memphis at 7-5. Since 2007, the Trojans have won five of their last six meetings with the Tigers. The last meeting took place on Sept. 20, 2013 and ended with Little Rock winning in straight sets.
This will be Little Rock's first-ever meeting with Auburn and Tennessee Tech.
 
SCOUTING AUBURN (4-2 OVERALL, 0-0 SEC)
Auburn enters its match with Little Rock on a two-match losing streak. The Tigers took a five-set loss at home to Syracuse before a four-set loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday.
Auburn is led on offense by Brenna McIlroy and Breanna Barksdale. McIlroy has 76 kills at 2.92 per set, while Barksdale has 69 kills at 2.65 per set. Alexa Filley hauls in the vast majority of assists with 270 for the season, a rate of 10.38 per set.
On defense, Emily Klitze leads the team with 22 total blocks, while libero Jesse Earl leads the way with 84 digs. Earl transferred from Xavier where she ranked second in the Big East for aces.
 
SCOUTING TENNESSEE TECH (0-6 OVERALL, 0-0 OVC)
Tennessee Tech enters the Memphis Invitational without a win as they lost to Tennessee, North Florida and UNC Greensboro this past weekend.
The Golden Eagles are led on offense by senior Cody Dodd with 84 kills and 3.65 kills per set. Junior setter Sharon Anderson has 148 assists for the year, a rate of 8.22 per set.
On defense, junior Kennedy Wade leads Tennessee Tech with 87 digs (3.63 per set), while freshman Shaneice James leads with 23 total blocks (seven solo and 16 assisted).
 
SCOUTING UAPB (0-7 OVERALL, 0-0 SWAC)
Like Tennessee Tech, the Golden Lions are winless to start the 2015 season. Before losing to Division II-opponent Arkansas-Monticello on Tuesday night, UAPB took loses to No. 24 Purdue, No. 12 BYU and Saint Louis.
 
SCOUTING MEMPHIS (4-2 OVERALL, 0-0 AAC)
Memphis comes into this weekend's tournament with a five-set loss to Belmont and a pair of wins over South Alabama and UTEP last weekend.
The Tigers are led on offense by Catlin Lilly at 3.67 kills per set and setter Veronica Zimmerman at 9.24 assists per set.
Defensively, libero Mady Ruhlman comes in at 4.10 digs per set, while Summer Morgan clocks in at 0.90 blocks per set.
 
OKLAHOMA NIKE INVITATIONAL REVIEW
Little Rock took home a second-place finish at the Oklahoma Nike Invitational this past weekend after winning two of its three matches. The Trojans took a four-set win over rival Central Arkansas before sweeping North Texas on the final day of competition.
For their outstanding performances, Edina Selimovic and Megan Mathis were named to the All-Tournament Team. Selimovic totaled 35 kills, a .351 hitting percentage, 10 total blocks and had four aces over the course of the three matches. Mathis tallied 103 assists with 13 kills and seven blocks.
 
A FIRST-PLACE FINISH AT THE MEMPHIS INVITATIONAL WOULD…
…be Little Rock's second consecutive preseason tournament win at Memphis. The Trojans last competed in the Tiger Invitational in 2013 and won all three matches against Memphis, Austin Peay and La Salle, dropping only one set in the process.
The last time Little Rock won the Memphis Invitational was in 2008 as the Trojans took three wins against McNeese State, Alabama A&M and Memphis.
 
CONFERENCE AND NATIONAL RANKINGS
With nine aces so far this season, junior Kelsey Leech ranks fourth in the conference and 89th in the nation with 0.45 aces per set. Leech had a career-high four aces against North Texas on Saturday.
Libero Priscila Almeida ranks fourth in the conference and 87th in the nation with 4.55 digs per set. Almeida has 91 digs through six matches.
The Trojans rank third in the conference for blocks per set with 2.30. Middle blocker Carolee Dillard leads Little Rock with 20 total blocks for the season.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH

• Senior libero Priscila Almeida is nine digs shy of 100 for her career and season.
• Carolee Dillard's 13 total blocks this past weekend now gives her 329 for her career, sixth-most all-time at Little Rock. She can pass former Trojan Adisa Hodzic for fifth-most with eight blocks this weekend. 
• Junior defensive specialist Kelsey Leech is seven digs shy of 450 for her career.
• With 76 assists this weekend, setter Megan Mathis can eclipse the 1,500 mark for her career. She is also six kills shy of 150 for career.
• Junior Edina Selimovic is 32 kills shy of 300 and seven total blocks short of 200 for her career.

 
UP NEXT
After finishing their final preconference tournament of the season in Memphis, the Trojans will begin their 16-match Sun Belt Conference schedule with a trip to Statesboro, Ga., to face the Georgia Southern Eagles on Sept. 18.