LITTLE ROCK – The Little Rock Volleyball team (19-11, 10-6) advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Friday night with a 3-0 victory over UTA (17-12, 10-7). The Trojans will face Texas State tomorrow, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. CT. This is the third time in the past five season's that the Trojan will make an appearance in the semifinal game.
Mya Robinson got the match started off for the Trojans, getting the game's first kill off an assist from
Taylor Lindberg. Little Rock would jump out to a 7-2 advantage early in the first frame, with
Laura Jansen getting a pair of kills through a 5-0 run. The Mavericks would battle back, bringing themselves with two points at 10-8, before another Little Rock run propelled the Trojans to a 10-point advantage, 20-10. The squads would trade serves to 22-12, but some Little Rock errors stalled the Trojans and let the Mavericks go on 4-1 run, inching closer to 22-16. The Trojans would eventually shut the door on the first set 25-16 after three UTA errors.
UT Arlington struck first in set two, taking a swift 2-1 lead.
Maritza Mesa would tie it at two and an avalanche of errors, six from UTA, a Robinson ace and a Lindberg kill would put Little Rock in front 10-7. The teams would continue to battle, but a
Pamela Zuluaga ace would make it 18-13 and start a 7-4 in favor of Little Rock's Team to put them on top 25-18.
Sun Belt Player of the Year
Veronica Marin's first point in the final set pushed set off a 7-3 opening run for Little Rock, the Trojans scoring off of a pair of 3-0 runs. UTA would not go down without a fight, finding digs to extend rallies and stay in the match. Little Rock would hold a 14-8 advantage, keeping UTA at bay, but the Maverick's offense would make a 12-6 run to tie it at 20. Three errors and kills from Marin and Robinson would ultimately tip the scale in favor of the team in Maroon, finishing the set 25-21 and completing the fifth sweep of UT Arlington in program history.
Marin hit a game-best .562, her ninth match of the year hitting .500 or better, and had, along with
Laura Jansen, a team-high nine kills. Lindberg handed out a match-high 20 assists and
Diana Giordani had a match-high 15 digs.
Tomorrow's match against Texas State will be streamed on ESPN+.
