Trojans Look to Start Sun Belt Play at 5-0

Match Notes (PDF)

Match 14: Little Rock at Texas State
Thursday, Oct. 1 • 6:30 p.m.
San Marcos, Texas • Strahan Coliseum 
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Match 15: Little Rock at UT Arlington
Saturday, Oct. 3 • 1:00 p.m.
Arlington, Texas. • College Park Center
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LITTLE ROCK – After a successful weekend at home, Little Rock volleyball (7-6, 3-0 Sun Belt) goes back on the road to face Texas State (8-8, 3-1) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., and UT Arlington (11-5, 2-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
FIRST SERVE

• Little Rock holds the nation's longest winning streak against conference opponents at 26 matches.
• Edina Selimovic earned the Sun Belt's Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week award for the second consecutive week.
• Selimovic leads the Sun Belt with a .392 hitting percentage.
• This is the fourth consecutive year that Little Rock has started the Sun Belt schedule at 3-0.
• This is Little Rock's only meeting of the regular season with Texas State.
• The Trojans hold an overall series lead over the Bobcats at 4-2 and are 3-0 when playing in San Marcos.
• After Sunday's win, Little Rock holds the series lead with UT Arlington at 10-9, and the Trojans are 7-6 when playing in Arlington.
• Carolee Dillard is now the leading blocker in the Sun Belt at 1.20 blocks per set overall and 1.67 in conference play.

SCOUTING TEXAS STATE (8-8, 3-1 Sun Belt)
Texas State split its matches at Georgia State and Appalachian last week. Against the Panthers, Texas won in straight sets, but Appalachian State swept the Bobcats 3-0 in Boone.
 
Sophomore Jordan Kohl leads the Texas State offense at 2.81 kills per set overall with a .268 hitting percentage for the year. In conference play, Kohl is getting 3.92 kills per set and is hitting .295. Setting Kohl is setter Erin Hoppe, who is averaging 7.71 assists per set for the season and 10.92 per set in Sun Belt play. Texas State is hitting .195 for the year and .229 in conference play.
 
Defensively, Sierra Smith leads the Bobcats with 4.02 digs per set overall and 5.92 in conference play. Getting the vast majority of blocks in conference play is Morgan Lewis with 1.15 per set.
 
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON (11-5, 2-2 Sun Belt)
UT Arlington fell in five sets to Little Rock on Sunday at the Jack Stephens Center. Before this Saturday's rematch with the Trojans, the Mavericks will face Georgia State at home on Thursday.
 
Hitter Stacey Koch continues to lead the Maverick offense with 3.31 kills per set and a .347 hitting percentage. Although Qiana Canette slightly has more kills per set a 3.36, she is just hitting .176.

Defensively, freshman Marisah Ingram has the most totals blocks with 69 for the year. Canete and Caitlyn Cooney average 3.00 and 3.76 digs per set, respectively.
 
SERIES AGAINST THE OPPONENTS
Little Rock is 4-2 all-time against Texas State and is a perfect 3-0 when playing in San Marcos. The Trojans are currently on a three-match streak against the Bobcats as Little Rock won both regular-season matches and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final in 2014.
 
After Sunday's five-set win over UT Arlington, Little Rock now holds a 10-9 series lead over the Mavericks. When playing in Arlington, the Trojans hold a 7-6 lead. With three wins against UT Arlington in 2014 and a victory on Sunday, Little Rock is a four-match winning streak against the Mavericks.
 
NATION'S LONGEST CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK
With LIU Brooklyn's conference winning streak coming to an end with a 3-1 loss to Bryant on Sunday, Little Rock now has the longest-active winning streak against conference opponents at 26 matches. The Trojans' streak is currently three more than No. 24 Long Beach State's 23-match streak and nine more than No. 1 Penn State's 17-match streak.
 
BACK-TO-BACK SBC OFFENSIVE-STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Edina Selimovic earned her second consecutive Sun Belt Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week award after recording 29 kills and six aces in two matches last week. Selimovic started the week with 11 kills on 17 attempts against Troy while hitting a season-high .588 for the match with two aces. In that same match, Selimovic contributed on defense with four total blocks (one solo and three assisted). On Sunday, Selimovic tallied a career-high 18 kills with a .351 hitting percentage and recorded a season-high four aces.

After the weekend's matches, Selimovic continues to lead the Sun Belt with a .392 hitting percentage and has the most aces per set in conference play at 0.67. With a .351 hitting percentage for her career, Selimovic is currently the most efficient hitter in program history.
 
TOP BLOCKER
Junior middle blocker Carolee Dillard had one of her best weeks of the year as she tallied 14 total blocks (1.75 per set) in wins over Troy and UT Arlington. Dillard tied a season-high with eight total blocks (two solo and six assisted) against UT Arlington on Sunday. Dillard was also one of the Trojans' main offensive weapons as she added 20 kills for the weekend. Against UTA, Dillard tallied 14 kills on 32 attempts and hit .344 for the match. Dillard is now the Sun Belt's leading blocker at 1.20 blocks per set overall and 1.64 blocks per set in conference play. She has 55 total blocks for the year.
 
A WIN AGAINST TEXAS STATE WOULD…
…be the Trojans fourth straight win over Texas State and would give Little Rock a 4-0 start to conference play for the fourth consecutive year.
 
A WIN AGAINST UT ARLINGTON WOULD…
…give the Trojans the season sweep of the Mavericks.
 
A WIN AGAINST TEXAS STATE AND UT ARLINGTON WOULD…
…be the fourth straight year Little Rock has started conference play at 5-0.
 
PLAYER AND TEAM RANKINGS
In her only season with the Trojans, libero Priscila has already made her mark on the program. With 13 matches under Little Rock's belt, Almeida has the 23rd-most digs per set in the nation at 5.09 and ranks third in the conference.

Edina Selimovic's .392 hitting percentage ranks 46th nationally while her 3.48 kills per set rank 134th. In conference play, Selimovic ranks second with a .475 hitting percentage and 4.18 kills per set, but her aces per set tops the chart with 0.64.

Carolee Dillard's conference-leading 1.20 blocks per set rank 74th in Division I. In Little Rock's three Sun Belt matches, Dillard has a league-leading 1.64 blocks per set.

As a team, Little Rock's 2.43 blocks per set tie for the most in the conference with UT Arlington and rank 59th in the nation.

In conference matches, Little Rock has the best opponent hitting percentage at .104, currently lower than last year's .118 against Sun Belt opponents.
In Sun Belt matches, the Trojans have the second-most aces per set at 1.45.
 
CAREER NUMBERS WATCH

• At 364 total blocks for her career, Dillard needs just two more to become the fourth-best blocker in program history. With eight kills this week, Dillard will top the 400 mark for her career.
• Junior defensive specialist Kelsey Leech needs just nine digs to tally 500 for her career.
• Freshman Sydnee Martin is 11 digs away from 100 for her career.
• Junior setter Megan Mathis will top 1,700 assists with 26 this week.

UP NEXT
With matches in Texas wrapping up on Saturday, Little Rock will return home to face rival Arkansas State in a highly anticipated match on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Trojans will then fly out to face Appalachian State and Georgia State on Oct. 9 and 11.