Trojans' Comeback Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to DePaul

ST. LOUIS – Looking to come back from a 2-1 deficit, Little Rock volleyball fell 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 14-25, 25-23, 12-15) in five sets to DePaul on Saturday evening at Chaifetz Pavilion on the campus of Saint Louis University.
 
For the Trojans (4-8), Marina Avram recorded her second consecutive double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs. Mya Robinson recorded her first career double-double as she ended the match with 12 kills and 15 digs. Veronica Marin put up eight total blocks (three solo and five assisted) while putting down eight kills. Sydnee Martin led Little Rock with 21 digs and tallied six assists. Taylor Lindberg had 37 assists with eight digs, seven kills, three block assists and an ace.

For her performance over the weekend, Avram was named to the Billiken Invitational's All-Tournament Team. The senior put down 42 kills (3.50 per set), hit .298, served up five aces and recorded 33 digs (2.75 per set) in the Trojans' three matches.
 
Claire Anderson led the match with 24 kills for the Blue Demons (6-6) while Myah Reed put down 18 kills. Haley Bueser led the match 22 digs while Kelsey Horvath had 50 assists.
 
Little Rock played from behind for the vast majority of the first set. After a brief tie at 3-3, DePaul stayed out front for the rest of the frame. Down by five at 22-17, the Trojans narrowed the gap to two at 23-21 off a Blue Demon attack error. DePaul then put down a kill on two of the next three points to take the set. Little Rock put up five blocks for the set compared to DePaul's two.
 
Down 9-8 in the second set, Little Rock went on a 7-0 run to take a 15-9 lead over DePaul. At 17-10, the Blue Demons went on a 7-1 run to let the Trojans' lead to one at 18-17. Little Rock bumped its lead back up to five with an ace by Nedima Kamberovic at 23-18. Back-to-back points for DePaul cut the lead to three, but Little Rock went on to take the set as a Blue Demon serve went wide. Avram and Marin each put down three kills as the team hit .200 for the set. Martin had seven digs, and Marin had three solo blocks.
 
Attack errors mounted up for Little Rock as it tallied more in the third set than in the first two sets combined with 10. This allowed DePaul to lead for the entirety of the set and take an 11-point win.
 
Little Rock and DePaul stayed within three points of each other for the entire fourth set. The set included 10 ties and two lead changes. Down 22-20, the Trojans clawed back with four consecutive points to take set point at 24-22. After a kill by DePaul, Avram put the set away with a kill of her own.
 
The fifth set looked promising for the Trojans as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead. With Little Rock still ahead at 9-6, the momentum swung in DePaul's favor as the Blue Demons scored five consecutive points to take an 11-9 lead. Both sides traded points until Little Rock cut the deficit to one at 13-12, but back-to-back kills by DePaul won the set and match.
 
Daisha Gillard had four kills with four block assists, and Maritza Mesa had four kills with 13 digs and three block assists. Belissa Guidotti had three kills on three attempts with one block assist. Jovana Cernjanski had two digs while Nedima Kamberovic served up an ace with two digs.

Little Rock put up its most blocks in a match this season with 15 while DePaul put up 13. 
 
With non-conference play over, Little Rock will begin Sun Belt Conference play in its home debut against Appalachian State on Friday at 6:30 p.m., at the Jack Stephens Center.