Trojans Fall In Five To Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After sweeping its last two opponents, Little Rock volleyball took a five-set loss in the final match of the Memphis Invitational against tournament-host Memphis (25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 12-15) on Saturday night.
 
The first set proved to be a tough one as the Trojans and Tigers traded the lead several times until tying at 10-10. Memphis then got on a run with six consecutive points coming off of three Trojan attack errors, two aces and a Little Rock service error. The Trojans broke the streak with a kill by Miona Milovanovic, but the Tigers kept the run going with two more points off a Memphis kill and Trojan attack error to take an 18-11 lead. Little Rock got hot and went on a five-point run to cut the lead to 18-16 before Memphis called its first timeout of the set. After the timeout, the Trojans tied the set at 18-18 with a Memphis ball handling error and a kill by Edina Selimovic. The Trojans then took the lead at 20-19 after Memphis hit into the net. The Tigers took their final timeout of the set at 21-19 as the Trojans continued their 10-1 run. Memphis could only get within two points for the remainder of the set as a kill by Carolee Dillard gave Little Rock a 25-22 win. Libero Priscila Almeida ended the set with an impressive eight digs.
 
The Trojans began the second set on a 4-1 run with two kills by Selimovic, a kill by Megan Mathis and a Memphis attack error before the Tigers called timeout. After the timeout, Little Rock continued its five-point run with a Memphis attack error. The Trojans built an 11-4 lead before Memphis responded with 4-1 run of its own. Up 12-8, the Tigers called their final timeout as Little Rock built a 15-8 lead off of two Memphis errors and a kill by Dillard. After the Memphis timeout, the Tigers went on a 5-1 run before Little Rock called its first timeout of the set at 16-13. Memphis continued its run after the timeout with a kill and an ace, forcing Little Rock to burn its final timeout with a 16-15 lead. Memphis tied the set at 18-18 with two kills and a Little Rock service error. The Tigers then took the lead at 21-20 with a Trojan attack error. Little Rock grabbed the lead once again at 23-22 and never gave it up as a kill by Selimovic topped off the set with a 25-23 Little Rock win.
 
Memphis began the third set with an 8-5 lead before Little Rock called a timeout to readjust. After a hard-fought battle, the Trojans finally tied the set at 19-19. With a Memphis timeout, the Tigers retook the lead at 21-19 on a kill and service ace, forcing Little Rock to call its final timeout.  The Trojans got within a point at 22-21, but Memphis rattled off three unanswered points to take the set 25-21.
 
In the fourth set, Little Rock started with a 2-0 lead on a Marina Avram kill and a Memphis attack error. The Tigers responded with an unanswered five-point run before the Trojans took their first timeout with a 5-2 deficit. Little Rock fought back to take the lead at 8-7 before Memphis retook control at 10-9. The Tigers continued to prowl, building a 17-11 lead and forcing the Trojans to call their final timeout. However, Memphis never let up and convincingly won the set 25-18.
 
Little Rock started the fifth and final set with a 7-5 lead, but Memphis grabbed the lead at 8-7 after two Trojan attack errors and a block. Little Rock retook the lead at 9-8 after a Memphis attack error and a block by Carolee Dillard and Miona Milovanovic. The two squads sparred back and forth until Little Rock called a timeout at 12-12. Out of the timeout, Memphis earned an ace and two kills to take the set and match by a score of 15-12.
 
Almeida recorded a career-high 38 digs and tied the Little Rock rally-scoring record for most digs in a match. Almeida's dig total also tied for the second-most in a match in program history.
 
Selimovic led the Trojan offense with 15 kills and a .333 hitting percentage, also adding three blocks into the mix.
 
Milovanovic came through with 12 kills and five block assists.
 
Dillard tallied eight kills along with a season-high eight blocks.
 
Mathis finished up with 40 assists and five kills, while Avram recorded four kills and a career-high 16 digs.
 
Veronica Marin earned four kills and three block assists.
 
Sydnee Martin came up with nine digs and two aces, while Kelsey Leech tallied three digs.
 
For their outstanding effort throughout the tournament, Mathis and Dillard were named to the Memphis Invitational All-Tournament Team. Mathis finished the tournament with 142 assists, while Dillard recorded 33 kills, 17 total blocks and hit .361.
 
Little Rock begins Sun Belt Conference action at Georgia Southern on Friday (Sept. 18) in Statesboro, Ga.