LITTLE ROCK – Hosting its first-ever tournament in the Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock volleyball will face Oklahoma, UAPB, Mississippi State and UT Martin beginning on Thursday night as part of the Little Rock Invitational.
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The Trojans will be holding a #CrowdSpike in the home opener against Oklahoma on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m., as they look to set a new attendance record against the Sooners. Little Rock's attendance record of 923 was set last year in the regular-season finale against Appalachian State. All students get in for free and receive a voucher for a free hot dog and
drink. The first 200 students to sign in and visit the Maroon Mob table will receive a buy one, get one free card from Chipotle. An autograph session with Trojan players will follow the match.
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Little Rock will be hosting Faculty/Staff Day and School Day on Friday as the Trojans take on UAPB at noon and Mississippi State at 6 p.m. All UALR Faculty and Staff will receive free admission. The Trojans will close out the Little Rock Invitational on Saturday with Transfer Night against UT Martin at 5 p.m. Fans are asked to bring a current college or
university ID from an area college or university to receive free admission.
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The Trojans will be looking for their first wins of the year after starting the season 0-3 at the SMU DoubleTree Classic last weekend. The Trojans have won their last four home matches dating back to last season.
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The Trojans were a force at the net last weekend as the team ranked third nationally for total blocks with 42 and ranked fifth for blocks per set at 3.82.
Carolee Dillard accounted for
over half of the Trojans' blocks with 23, ranking second nationally. Dillard's 452 career blocks rank third in the Sun Belt in the rally-scoring era and fifth among active Division I players.
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Thursday night's match against Oklahoma will be the first non-conference match in the Jack Stephens Center since 2007 and it will be just the fourth non-Sun Belt match to ever take place in the arena. Oral Roberts (twice) and Central Arkansas are the only other opponents to visit the Jack.
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The Trojans are undefeated against UT Martin and UAPB while holding a winning record of 5-3 against Mississippi State. Little Rock's only win over Oklahoma came in Little Rock in 1998.
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- Little Rock has the third-most total blocks nationally with 42 and ranks fifth for blocks per set (3.82).
- Carolee Dillard ranked second nationally for total blocks (23) and seventh for blocks per set (2.09) this weekend.
- At 452 total blocks for her career, Carolee now ranks fifth among active Division I players and is 112 away from breaking the program record.
- Little Rock is undefeated against UT Martin and UAPB and has the series lead with Mississippi State at 5-3.
- Little Rock has only played three non-conference matches in the Jack Stephens Center.
- The Trojans' opponent hitting percentage of .133 ranks second in the Sun Belt and 46th nationally.
- Sydnee Martin's 0.45 aces per set rank seventh in the Sun Belt.
- This will be the first preconference tournament Little Rock has hosted since 1993.
- The last tournament Little Rock hosted was the 1999 Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
- Aubrey Wilson has two straight double-double performances.
