Little Rock Takes Three-Set Loss to Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – Little Rock volleyball (0-4) took its fourth consecutive loss to open the 2015 season after Oklahoma took the match in straight sets (25-17, 25-19, 25-21) on Thursday night.
 
Little Rock came storming out of the gate as freshman Veronica Marin earned a kill and junior Kelsey Leech tallied her third ace of the season to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead. An Oklahoma attack error then put the Trojans up 3-0. The Sooners battled back and eventually knotted up the match at 5-5. Oklahoma continued the charge by going on a 10-4 run, forcing Little Rock to call its first timeout of the set at 15-9. However, the Sooners didn't let up, taking a 19-13 lead. The Trojans then narrowed the Sooners' lead to four points at 19-15 after a couple of kills by Marin Avram. Oklahoma never gave in as it went on a 6-2 run to finish the set with a 25-17 win.
 
Oklahoma started the second set with a 4-1 lead, but Little Rock closed the gap to 5-4 with a kill by Megan Mathis, an ace by Sydnee Martin and a Sooner service error. The Trojans then tied the set at 6-6 after an Oklahoma ball handling error. The Sooners scored three consecutive points before Avram earned a kill to stop the run at 9-7. At 13-11, the Sooners tallied five straight points before a service error ended the run at 18-11. Down 21-15, Little Rock called its first timeout of the set to adjust. The Trojans closed the gap to four points at 22-18 after two errors by the Sooners and a kill by Edina Selimovic. Little Rock couldn't get any closer to closing in on Oklahoma's lead as the Sooners won the second set 25-19.
 
Oklahoma started the third set on a 6-1 run before serving into the net. Little Rock charged back with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 8-8. The Sooners answered back with a run of their own, scoring four consecutive points before the Trojans took their final timeout at 12-8. After the timeout, Little Rock came up with two straight points on an Oklahoma service error and a kill by Miona Milovanovic. Up 14-11, the Sooners rallied with a 5-2 run before a kill by Megan Mathis stopped the Oklahoma offensive at 19-14. The Trojans narrowed the Sooners lead to three points at 24-21, but a kill by the Sooners' Micaela Spann ended the set and match.
 
Dillard finished the match with a team-high 10 kills and a .421 hitting percentage on 19 attempts. She also led the Trojans with three total blocks.
 
Avram ended the night with nine kills, while Selimovic tallied six.
 
Mathis finished with 25 assists, four kills and six digs.
 
Milovanovic and Marin each finished with two kills.
 
Senior libero Priscila Almeida ended the night with a team-high 10 digs, while Leech and Martin came up with five digs each.
 
Little Rock continues the Oklahoma Nike Invitational against Central Arkansas (1-2) on Friday at 5 p.m. in Norman, Okla.