Little Rock cut down on the mistakes that had plagued them all season, but even with minimal miscues, the Trojans were unfortunate to run into an opponent who seemingly couldn't miss. Conference-leading Southeast Missouri (16-4, 8-1 OVC) hit a whopping .425 and put the Trojans (4-14, 1-6) away in straight sets – 25-13, 25-12, 25-14 – on Wednesday at the Jack Stephens Center.
The Redhawks even got better as the night went on, hitting .314 and .385 in the first two sets, and a blistering .615 with no errors in the third. They finished with 42 kills to only five errors. Meanwhile, the Trojans cut down on errors while serving (2), setting (2) and receiving (3) but finished with an even 26 kills to 26 errors for a hitting percentage of .000.
SEMO led by as many as 14 in the opening set, and never trailed in the second set while turning a 15-12 lead into a win by scoring 10 straight points to close out the set. The Trojans led briefly in the third by a 3-1 margin and would later tie it at 7-7, but a 9-2 run by the Redhawks made it 16-9 and provided more than enough cushion for the visitors to complete the sweep in just 72 minutes.
Bella Cherry had seven kills to lead the Little Rock attack, with
Daedrianna Cail adding six.
Dariana Valencia had a team-high 10 assists and
Kaylee Smith added eight.
Andrea Roman led the defense with 12 digs.
Little Rock is home for a conference series this weekend against Tennessee State on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers (2-16, 2-6) enter the series having lost six consecutive matches. First serve on Friday is scheduled for 6 pm.
Â
