LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock was serving for set point in both sets two and three, but was unable to shut the door on Texas State as the Bobcats rallied in both to hand the Trojans a 20-25, 25-27, 23-25 loss Friday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
The loss came despite Little Rock hitting .310 for the match, committing just eight hitting errors all night. But Texas State hit a blistering .370 while holding a significant 59-36 advantage in digs, proving crucial in key moments of the match.
Nicole Medlin led Little Rock with 12 kills and just one error on 23 attempts for a .478 hitting percentage, adding a pair of blocks, while
Laura Jansen finished with 10 kills while hitting .286 with a pair of digs and a pair of block assists as well.
Nedima Kamberovic added eight kills to the Little Rock offensive attack with
Nejra Hanic and
Laure Jansen each finishing with six as all three hit .263 or above for the match. Laure led the Trojans with 10 digs on the night while
Zanobia Willis had five block assists defensively.
It was a competitive match all evening between the Trojans and Bobcats as the two teams combined for 30 ties and 12 lead changes over the course of the three sets. Both teams exchanged points early in set one before Texas State slowly built a four-point cushion at 20-16, forcing a Little Rock timeout. The Trojans got to within two at 21-19, but the Bobcats scored four of the next five points to take the opener 25-20.
Set two was even more competitive as Little Rock and Texas State combined for 14 ties and five lead changes. After Texas State opened a four-point lead at 15-11, Little Rock rallied to tie the set at 21-21 and forced ties at the next three intervals. Trailing 24-23, the Trojans rattled off a pair of points to take the lead at 25-24, serving for set point, but three straight kills for the Bobcats clinched set two at 27-25.
Little Rock raced out to the early lead in set three, but saw Texas State rally back as the two teams combined for nine ties and four lead changes. With the match tied 16-16, the Trojans seemed to gain control at 22-19, and maintained a two-point cushion at 23-21. But as it had done all night, Texas State came on strong at the end, scoring the match's final four points to upend the Trojans 25-23 and seal the victory.
Little Rock returns to the court at the Jack Stephens Center Saturday evening, taking on UT Arlington to close out the weekend home stand. Opening serve against the Mavericks is set for 6 p.m., airing on ESPN+.
#LittleRocksTeam
