Trojans Claim Five-Set Win Over ULM

MONROE, La. – In a nerve-racking five set match, Little Rock volleyball (7-13, 3-4 Sun Belt) earned the 3-2 win (26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 26-28, 15-7) over ULM (8-16, 2-4) on Friday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
The Trojans' victory extended their win streak over the Warhawks to 29 matches — a streak that extends all the way back to 1992.
 
"I was tickled to death to get the win on the road," head coach Van Compton said. "I didn't think we played as well as we could have, but we played better when we needed to in the fifth set."
 
Taylor Lindberg earned her second double-double of the year with 41 assists and 10 digs, and she nearly had the triple-double with nine kills and a career-high .643 hitting percentage.
 
"Taylor worked really hard on defense this week in practice, and that helped her," Compton said. "Along with good setting, she did a good job tonight."
 
Edina Selimovic led the Trojans with 14 kills, five blocks, three aces and nine digs. Miona Milovanovic had a season-high 12 kills and an ace.  Marina Avram led the Trojans with 15 digs while tallying six kills, an ace and two blocks.
 
"I think Miona and Edina, stepped it up tonight," Compton noted. "Edina played outside in one rotation, and Miona served. Those are things they really aren't used to doing, but they stepped up, did it and helped us win. I'm really appreciative of that."
 
Knotted at 4-4 in the fifth set, Little Rock went on a 6-2 run to force a ULM timeout. The timeout didn't make a difference for the Warhawks as the Trojans concluded the match on a 5-1 run.
 
The fourth frame went down to the wire as the set went into extra points. ULM earned the set's first set point at 24-23 but a service error tied the set again at 24. Little Rock then earned match point with an ace by Selimovic, but ULM knotted it again with a kill. Still tied at 26, the Warhawks took the set with a kill and a block.
 
Little Rock got the third set started with a 3-0 run, but the tide turned as ULM grabbed the lead with a 6-0 run. The Warhawks kept up the momentum and eventually took an eight-point lead at 22-14. The Trojans managed to cut the Warhawk lead to two at 24-22, but ULM grabbed the set on a Little Rock attack error.
 
The Trojans came out of the starting blocks hot in the second set with a 7-1 lead, but the Warhawks fought back to bring the frame within one at 8-7. Little Rock matched its largest lead of the set at 23-17 on a ULM service error. From there, the Warhawks got no closer than two points as Little Rock took the set with a three-point win.
 
The match got underway with a tight set that went into extra points. Down 21-17, Little Rock clawed its way back into the set with a 5-1 run to tie the frame at 22. Still knotted at 23, Dillard put down a kill to give the Trojans set point, but ULM put down a kill of its own to once again tie the frame. From there, Little Rock cruised to a 26-24 win with two consecutive bad sets by ULM.
 
Carolee Dillard had eight kills and four blocks (three solo and one assisted) for the Trojans. Kelsey Leech scooped up 14 digs, and Sydnee Martin had 12 digs.
 
The Trojans put up 10 blocks, but they were outblocked for just the second time this season as ULM put up 11.
 
Little Rock will return to action in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Sunday as they take on the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana.