LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock took the opening two sets, then fought off a furious Troy rally, outlasting the Alabama Trojans 16-14 in the fifth to notch the 25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 21-25, 16-14 victory at the Jack Stephens Center. The win ups Little Rock's record to 10-5 overall and 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference play.
A number of individual efforts paced Little Rock to victory, led by
Taylor Lindberg with her second triple-double of the year with 15 kills, 35 assists and 15 digs.
Veronica Marin had another monster night at the net, posting a double-double with 13 kills and 10 blocks, including six solo blocks against Troy (6-9, 0-2).
The pair were two of the five Trojans to finish with double-digit kills, including
Mya Robinson (14),
Laura Jansen (13) and
Maritza Mesa (12). As a team, Little Rock hit .218 with 71 total kills and 15 team blocks, compared to a .191 percentage with 64 kills and 11 blocks for Troy.
Little Rock raced out to a fast start in the opening set but watched Troy respond to take a 13-11 lead. But the home Trojans rallied to outscore their Alabama counterparts 13-4, closing out the first set 25-18 behind five kills each from Robinson and Lindberg.
Set two was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to build more than a two-point advantage. Tied at 22-22 late, Little Rock got the crucial points when it counted, highlighted by kills from Jansen and Robinson to take the second 25-23 and the early 2-0 lead.
Troy found its scoring touch in the third and fourth sets, putting together extended runs in both to hold Little Rock to 19 and 21 points, respectively, and force the deciding fifth set, one that will go down as one of the most memorable in recent history.
Little Rock and Troy combined for 11 ties in the deciding frame with the largest lead coming off a kill from Lindberg, giving the home Trojans the 13-11 lead. Troy fought back to tie the match at 13-13 and again at 14-14 after a challenge was reversed to give the Alabama Trojans a crucial point late.
Lindberg then notched her 15th kill of the night to give Little Rock the 15-14 lead before an attack error by Troy appeared to give Little Rock the victory. The celebration was put on hold temporarily as another challenge was reviewed, claiming there was a touch by Little Rock on the attack, but the ruling went in favor of the home Trojans to seal Little Rock's second win of the conference season.
Inside the Stats
- The five-set win was the first for Little Rock this season and the first time the Trojans have won a fifth set since the 3-2 win against Georgia State at the Jack last season.
- Little Rock improves to 13-4 all-time against Troy, avenging the 3-1 loss in Alabama last season.
- The five Trojans to register double-digit kill totals is a new high for the season as those five players combined for 67 of the Trojans' 71 kills on the night.
- Marin's six solo blocks is tied for the second-most in a match in program history and the most for the Trojans since Kristi Block's seven solo blocks against Denver in 2010.
- Little Rock improves to 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference play for the first time since 2015.
- Lindberg's 35 assists led Little Rock with Pamela Zuluaga adding 29 helpers and 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
- Sydnee Martin finished with a match-high 27 digs, upping her career total to 1,254, leaving her 42 digs shy of second-place all-time in program history.
- Five different Trojans finished with double-digit dig totals, comprised of Martin, Zuluaga, Lindberg, Robinson (12) and Diana Giordani (14), giving Robinson her fifth double-double of the season.
Up Next
Little Rock will now hit the road for a crucial four-game road swing, beginning west against its Texas rivals. The Trojans open up their Lone Star road trip on Friday, September 28, facing Texas State in San Marcos, before heading to the DFW Metroplex to face UT Arlington on Saturday, September 29.
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