Trojans Begin Season With Four-Set Loss to Miami

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Despite a strong first set, Little Rock volleyball allowed Miami to take three consecutive sets and take the match 3-1 (25-20, 16-25, 22-25, 13-25) in the season opener on Friday at Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of Southern Miss.
 
Veronica Marin hit a match-high .333 with 11 kills and four blocks (one solo and three assisted) for Little Rock (0-1). Marina Avram had 11 kills of her own with a service ace. Daisha Gillard led the match with six total blocks (two solo and four assisted) to go along with five kills. Taylor Lindberg tallied 32 assists with seven digs, four blocks and two kills. Sydnee Martin led the squad with 12 digs and put down one kill.
 
Outside hitter Olga Strantzali led the match with 22 kills for Miami (0-1). Setter Haley Templeton had 39 assists and libero Sylvia Hernandez scooped up 19 digs.
 
Little Rock was dominant in the first set as the team hit .370 compared to Miami's .054. Marin led the set with four kills and Mya Robinson tallied three. Helping the Trojans take the set was an early 9-3 run that included five consecutive Little Rock points.
 
After a brief tie at 4-4 in the second set, Miami built a 10-point lead to take set point at 24-14. The Trojans challenged the Hurricanes with a couple of points to bring the deficit back to single digits, but Miami evened the match at 1-1 with a kill by Strantzali.
 
The Trojans started the third set with a 5-0 lead, but Miami slowly crawled back into it and tied the frame at 13. Both squads remained within a point of each other until tying for the final time at 22. The Hurricanes then rattled off three consecutive points to take the set and match lead.
 
Miami finished off the match with a 12-point win over Little Rock in the fourth set. Helping the Hurricanes pull away was a seven-point run in the middle of the set. Avram came alive for the Trojans in the final set with five kills on 10 attempts.
 
Robinson ended the match with seven kills in her Trojan debut. Maritza Mesa had a team-high two aces with 11 digs and three blocks in her debut, and Tamaira Armstrong tallied three kills. Jovana Cernjanski had seven digs while Kassidy Hopkins earned three of her own.
 
Little Rock will return to action later today against Jackson State at 5 p.m.