Trojans Close Out Little Rock Invitational With Sweep

LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock volleyball team concluded its first-ever home tournament with a 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-13) sweep of UT Martin at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday evening.
 
Marina Avram was the Trojans' best weapon on the day as she racked up 14 kills and hit .400. Miona Milovanovic hit .400 and picked up nine kills, and Veronica Marin had nine kills and a match-high .643 hitting percentage.
 
Edina Selimovic finished with eight kills, and Carolee Dillard had seven. Taylor Lindberg racked up 36 assists to top the Trojans.
 
Marin was named to the All-Tournament Team thanks to her 41 accumulated kills over the four matches Little Rock played.
 
Little Rock stormed out of the gates offensively, hitting .500 in the first set. Dillard posted four kills in the frame, but four other Trojans had three kills each while the team committed only one attacking error the entire set.
 
Toward the end of the second set, the Trojans held a 22-19 lead but coughed it up as the Skyhawks scored four straight points to take a 23-22 lead. But Little Rock recovered and scored four of the final five points, taking the set 26-24. The Skyhawks committed errors on two straight points after the set was tied at 24-24 to hand the frame to the Trojans.
 
The third set was by far the Trojans' most decisive of the match. Little Rock stormed out to a 6-1 lead and would eventually grow that lead to as many as 12 points. Fittingly, Avram got the final two kills of the match to send Little Rock to victory. The Trojans hit a match-high .586 in the final frame.
 
Little Rock's .457 hitting percentage for the match was the seventh-best in the rally-scoring era for the program.
 
The Trojans are off to Tallahassee next weekend as they are set to participate in the Home2 Suites by Hilton-Tallahassee Seminole Tournament at Florida State. Little Rock will take on the host Seminoles as well as Florida A&M and Baylor. The team's first match is Thursday against Florida A&M at 5 p.m.
 
Little Rock Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kimmy Gardiner – Oklahoma – MVP
Audrey Alford – Oklahoma
Madison Ward – Oklahoma
Evie Grace Singleton – Mississippi State
Emily Hill – Mississippi State
Veronica Marin – Little Rock
Macy Reigelsperger – UT Martin
Lauren Corby – UAPB
 
Little Rock Invitational Final Standings

1. Oklahoma – 4-0
2. Mississippi State – 2-1
3. Little Rock – 2-2
4. UT Martin – 1-3
5. UAPB – 0-4