Little Rock Takes Four-Set Loss to Colgate

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After winning the first set, Little Rock volleyball (2-5) fell 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 15-25, 14-25) to Colgate (7-1) on Friday afternoon at Shelton Gym on the campus of Stephen F. Austin.
 
Marina Avram came up a kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 12 digs while Taylor Lindberg tallied 34 assists with eight digs, three kills and three block assists. Veronica Marin led the Trojans with six total blocks (one solo and five assisted). Daisha Gillard led Little Rock with a .357 hitting percentage as she put down six kills on 14 swings and tallied two block assists.
 
Colgate's Alli Lowe led the match with 23 kills and a .435 hitting percentage while Katie Stansbury had 18 of her own. Four Raiders ( had double-digit dig totals for the match.
 
Little Rock began the match with a two-point win over Colgate. Down 14-11, Little Rock went on a four-point run and took the lead with a solo block by Marin. The Raiders tied the set three more times, but they never retook the lead from the Trojans. Mesa ended the set with a team-leading five kills while Lindberg added 12 assists. Martin had a set-high five digs while Marin led the set with three blocks. Little Rock outhit Colgate .448-.317 and made no errors on 29 swings.
 
The Raiders took the second frame with a four-point win. Colgate had its largest lead of the set at 22-17 after a kill by Alli Lowe. As the Raiders took set point at 24-19, the Trojans cut the deficit with a Marin kill and a Colgate attack error. The late comeback was short-lived as a kill by Colgate's Amanda Smith ended the set. Martin put up a set-high seven digs for Little Rock as Marin added two block assists.
 
Errors mounted up for the Trojans in the third set as Little Rock hit just .118 compared to Colgate's .316. Little Rock started out with a 4-1 lead, but Colgate rallied back to take the lead for the rest of the set at 7-6.
 
Like the third set, Little Rock started out with an early lead before Colgate went up 7-6 and never looked back. Helping the Raiders take the set were two five-point runs. Colgate won the set with its largest lead of the match as it took the frame by 11 points.
 
Maritza Mesa hit .333 with seven kills and eight digs. Mya Robinson racked up eight kills with seven digs and two block assists. Tamaira Armstrong tallied two kills.
 
The Trojans won the block battle with nine compared to the Raiders' seven.
 
Little Rock will return to action on Saturday as it faces Texas Southern at 11 a.m., and tournament-host Stephen F. Austin at 6:30 p.m.