Trojans End Opening Day with 3-0 Win Over Mercer

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – The opening day of the 2018 season couldn't have gone any better for Little Rock volleyball as it earned its second win of the day by defeating Mercer 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-12) on Friday evening at Kennamer Gym on the campus of Jacksonville State.
 
This is the first time since 1996 that Little Rock (2-0) has earned back-to-back 3-0 victories to start a season.
 
Mya Robinson led the match with nine kills and 12 digs while hitting .300 and adding two total blocks. Veronica Marin led the match with a career-high .727 hitting percentage as she put down eight kills on 11 attempts and added three total blocks. Carol Barbosa led the Trojans with four total blocks while racking up five kills. Taylor Lindberg led the match with a career-high four aces as she also tallied 17 assists.
 
Paige Alsten led Mercer (1-1) with eight kills and a .533 hitting percentage while Maddie Nunley finished with 20 assists.
 
The Trojans won their fourth consecutive set of the day with a 25-18 victory in the first frame. Robinson put down three kills while Sydnee Martin led the set with four digs. Lindberg put Little Rock on a 5-0 run after serving up three consecutive aces midway through the set to give the Trojans an 11-6 lead. Little Rock's run continued to mount as it scored eight consecutive points to go up 15-6. Four consecutive points by Mercer cut the lead to five at 15-10, but that was closest the Bears came to the Trojans' lead.
 
Little Rock went up 2-0 for the match after earning a 25-15 win during the second set. Little Rock hit .519 for the set with 16 kills on 27 attacks. Marin and Robinson each put up five kills for the set while Lindberg tallied nine assists. Martin led the set with five digs while Barbosa added three block assists.
 
The Trojans closed out the match with a 25-12 victory in the third set. Little Rock hit .250 for the frame while holding Mercer to -.036. Laura Jansen led the Trojans with three kills while Lindberg added another six assists to her total. Robinson had a set-high eight digs for Little Rock.
 
Jansen ended the match with six kills while Maritza Mesa tallied four of her own to go along with two block assists. Pamela Zuluaga finished up with nine assists and a kill. Martin posted 10 digs, three aces and three assists while Diana Giordani had six digs of her own.
 
Little Rock will close out the Jacksonville State Invitational on Saturday by facing Lamar at 9 a.m. and host Jacksonville State at 2 p.m. With two victories, the Trojans would win their first non-conference tournament since the TCU Nike Invitational in 2014.
 
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