EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Little Rock had three players record double-doubles and matched a season-high 18 total team blocks but allowed SIUE to escape in a five-set marathon Saturday afternoon at First Community Arena in Edwardsville.
Three different Trojans recorded double-doubles, including
Zanobia Willis registering her first career 10-10 performance, and Little Rock tallied 18 blocks in a match for the second time this season. But SIUE (10-8, 5-2 Ohio Valley) relied on the 24 kills off the hand of Sydney Hummert and served up 11 aces to squeak by the Trojans (3-16, 0-6). Set scores were 24-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23 and 15-12.
Willis was a dominant force at the net, putting down 10 kills and matching her career-high 10 blocks in the match while hitting .529.
Gabrielle Spankus dished out a career-high 48 assists while adding 11 digs, one of five Little Rock players credited with double-digit digs.
Laure Jansen led the Trojans with 15 kills while adding 11 digs. Daedrianna Cail posted a match-best .571 percentage with 13 kills, seven blocks and a pair of aces.
Little Rock utilized seven blocks in the opening frame to edge the host Cougars in extra points, 26-24, including six stops at the net by Willis.
Rylee McClintock, who recorded a career-best 18 digs, had eight digs in the first set.
Despite hitting .200 in the second set, the Trojans allowed SIUE to hit at a .281 clip as the Cougars only allowed Little Rock to claim one block in the set. But the Maroon and Silver continued to improve offensively, hitting at a .282 pace in the third set as the Trojans committed a match-low two errors to post a 25-20 set victory.
That hot offense cooled off in the fourth set as Little Rock hit just .114 but the Trojans tallied five blocks in the frame and limited to SIUE to a .104 mark. Despite holding a 21-19 lead late, SIUE would rebound and win four straight points before claiming the 25-23 set win.
In the decisive fifth set, Little Rock hit .250 but the SIUE offense caught fire and hit at a .450 clip. Little Rock kept pace with the Cougars before a 3-0 SIUE run forced a Little Rock timeout and created a deficit from which the Trojans would be unable to recover.
Little Rock wraps up the five-game road swing on Monday when the Trojans will play at Southeast Missouri. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and the match will air live on ESPN+.
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