LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Laure Jansen registered a career- and game-high 23 kills while hitting .300 as Little Rock refused to quit in a 3-2 win over Morehead State Friday night at the Jack Stephens Center. Set scores were 25-20, 15-25, 25-22, 15-25 and 15-10.
Perhaps she felt extra support in the arena. That would not be surprising considering the Netherlands-native had her parents and two brothers on hand to see her play – and quite the show they were able to see. Jansen's 23 kills marked a career-high and Friday marked her second straight match hitting .300. She also six digs, two blocks (including one solo) and an assist credited to her.
Meanwhile her teammates also felt support as a raucous crowd of 253 kept the visiting Eagles (8-11, 4-4 Ohio Valley) off-balance most of the night. Daedrianna Cail posted seven blocks and four service aces – all four of which came in the third set with three coming in back-to-back-to-back fashion – while
Nedima Kamberovic matched a season-high 13 kills and
Rylee McClintock registered a career-high 27 digs.
Little Rock (4-17, 1-7) posted double-digit blocks (10) for the third time in four matches and hit .205 as a team in an offense orchestrated by freshman setter
Gabrielle Spankus, who utilized 45 assists and 10 digs to lead the Trojans to their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference win.
Maycie Welborn led the Eagles with 21 kills but Little Rock held Abby Hulsman to just 10 kills, lower than her season average of 2.93 kills per set entering the match.
The back-and-forth tone was set early as the opening set witnessed 11 ties and four lead changes with both teams hitting above .300. Jansen was on fire from the onset, recording nine of her 23 kills in that opening frame.
After a sluggish second set where the Trojans were out-hit, .444 to .062, Little Rock rebounded in the third set by hitting .308 and tallying an incredible 24 digs in that set alone, eight of which came from McClintock while
Daria Burrows added six.
Another sluggish set came in the fourth frame extended the match to its max and it was in the fifth set that Little Rock refused to quit. The Trojans jumped out to an early lead, forcing a Morehead State timeout just five points into the match and kept a 5-0 run going through that timeout.
Despite Morehead State attempting to rally back, the Eagles couldn't get any closer than a three-point margin and Cail's seventh block of the night, a tandem stop along with
Jeila Fullerton, sealed the set and match win.
The two teams will reconvene at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock on Saturday with a 2 p.m. first serve.
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