Little Rock is 1-9 all-time against the Sooners. The Trojans' lone win came in 1998 as Little Rock picked up the victory in four sets. Little Rock and Oklahoma last faced each other in 2014 as the Sooners picked up the four-set win.
Friday's match with Central Arkansas will mark the first time since 2011 that in-state rivals Central Arkansas and Little Rock have played each other despite the schools only being 30 miles apart. The Trojans own a 3-2 series lead, but Central Arkansas owns a 1-0 lead at neutral sites. The Bears took the previous match in the series in five sets.
Saturday will mark the first time Little Rock has faced North Texas since the Mean Green left the Sun Belt Conference after the 2012 season. Little Rock owns a 16-8 series lead overall and a 2-0 series lead at neutral locations.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA (0-3 OVERALL, 0-0 BIG 12)The Sooners are coming off a winless opening weekend against No. 9 Florida State, San Diego and No. 24 Colorado at the Omni Classic in Boulder, Colo. Despite this, Oklahoma received 11 votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.
On offense, the Sooners have plenty of options as five players have more than 20 kills heading into the second week. Outside hitter Madison Ward leads the team with 37 kills but has the lowest hitting percentage of any Sooner at .153. Oklahoma's most efficient hitter in the young 2015 season is Micaela Spann with a .368 hitting percentage and 2.07 kills per set. Setter Julia Doyle is averaging just over nine assists per set. The Sooners tallied 22 aces in their first three contests with Kierra Holst leading the way with eight.
Defensively, Spann leads the team with 1.29 blocks per set, while defensive specialist Taylor Migliazzo leads in the digs department with 2.79 per set.
SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS (1-2 OVERALL, 0-0 SOUTHLAND)UCA comes into the week with a win against Omaha and a pair losses to Seton Hall and UNLV. The Bears are led on offense by senior outside hitter Heather Schnars with 3.71 kills per set and a .246 hitting percentage through three matches. She also leads UCA with seven service aces and 13 service errors. Setting up Schnars is setter Amy South, who averages 9.36 per set.
On defense, Central Arkansas is led by Corri Hunt and Savanah Allen. Hunt is averaging 3.29 digs per set, while Allen has 19 total blocks (two solo and 17 assisted) and averages 1.36 per set.
SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS (1-2 OVERALL, 0-0 C-USA)North Texas enters the Oklahoma Nike Invitational with a five-set win against Winthrop and two losses to North Dakota State and Missouri.
The Mean Green's main offensive weapon is senior outside hitter and 2014 Conference USA Player of the Year Carnae Dillard. Through three matches, Dillard is averaging 5.23 kills per set with 68 total kills and a .220 hitting percentage. Dillard put up 30 kills in the loss to North Dakota State on Saturday.
On defense, North Texas has four players with at least 20 digs, Dillard, McKenna Thornlow, Hannah Shaw and Amy Henard. The Mean Green have showed very little effort on the block as they only recorded 10 total blocks in the first weekend of action compared to the Trojans' 22.
BLUEGRASS INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMEdina Selimovic earned Bluegrass Invitational All-Tournament Team honors after tallying 31 kills and averaging 3.1 kills per set this past weekend. Selimovic had an efficient weekend with a .343 hitting percentage and picked up nine total blocks.
A WIN AGAINST OKLAHOMA WOULD……be the Trojans' second straight victory against a Big 12 school. Little Rock last defeated Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014 in five sets.
A WIN AGAINST CENTRAL ARKANSAS WOULD……be Little Rock's first victory over the Bears since the 2007 season.
A WIN AGAINST NORTH TEXAS WOULD……give Little Rock wins in four of the last six meetings with North Texas and would be the first win against the Mean Green since a five-set win on Sept. 25, 2012.
BEST SEASON IN PROGRAM HISTORYLittle Rock enters the 2015 season after being what many called the "Cinderella" team of the NCAA Tournament in 2014. The Trojans finished the season strong, earning their first-ever NCAA Tournament win and advancing to the second round with a five-set win over No. 16-seeded Kansas in hostile territory. Little Rock nearly claimed the school's first-ever Sweet Sixteen bid for any sport as it went the distance with Oregon State.
PRESEASON OUTLOOKWith 2014 in the history books, this year's squad anticipates similar results. Little Rock was voted to repeat as the Sun Belt Conference champions in the Preseason Coaches Poll with 114 points and seven first-place votes, while Texas State took a close second with 108 points and three first-place votes. Last season, the Trojans went undefeated in conference play at 20-0, the best undefeated regular season in Sun Belt history. Little Rock didn't stop there as the Trojans swept their way through the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with victories against South Alabama, UT Arlington and Texas State to win their first championship since 2000.
BLOCK PARTYJunior middle blocker
Edina Selimovic was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team after a fantastic 2014 campaign. Selimovic led the Sun Belt in total blocks (174) and blocks per set (1.43) while ranking ninth in Division I for total blocks and 15th for blocks per set. Along with great defensive work, Selimovic mastered the serve with a league-leading 55 aces, enough for sixth in the nation, while also leading the league with 0.45 aces per set, 11th-most in Division I. Selimovic also led the team with a .321 hitting percentage, fourth-best in the conference. Selimovic's best match came with 15 kills and 11 total blocks against Texas State on Oct. 23. For her hard work, Selimovic earned Sun Belt First Team honors and was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 27. With fellow teammate
Carolee Dillard, the two were the sixth-best blocking duo in the nation last season with a combined 323 total blocks.
COMPTON'S WINNING WAYSHead coach
Van Compton enters her 28th season as Little Rock's head coach. Compton became the Sun Belt's all-time winningest coach after she earned her 216th conference win in a sweep of Arkansas State to end the 2014 conference schedule. All of Little Rock's 473 victories have come under Compton's watch. Compton was named the Sun Belt Conference's Coach of the Year in 2014 for the second time after previously winning the award in 1993. She also took home the AVCA Southwest Region Coach of the Year award for the first time in 2014.
NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGSLast season, Little Rock had the second-lowest opponent hitting percentage in the nation at .137, trailing Coastal Carolina by just .003.
The Trojans also ranked third with 372 total blocks and fifth with 3.05 blocks per set.
Little Rock's .274 hitting percentage was not only the best in program history and the Sun Belt last season, it ranked 10th-best in Division I.
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH• Â
Carolee Dillard is two solo blocks away from eighth-most at LR all-time, four assisted blocks away from sixth-most all-time and one total block away from sixth-most all-time.
•  With 85 assists this past weekend, setter
Megan Mathis now has the 10th-most assists in program history with 1,321.
UP NEXTAfter completing the Oklahoma Nike Invitational on Saturday, Little Rock will travel to Memphis, Tenn., for its final preconference tournament with matches against Auburn, Tennessee Tech, UAPB and Memphis as part of the Memphis Invitational on Sept. 11 and 12.
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