Trojans to welcome Eastern Illinois as postseason race ramps up

Little Rock stole a much-needed conference win on the road last week, keeping the Trojans alive in the race for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament later this month. This weekend, they'll face their toughest conference test to date when they welcome Eastern Illinois (20-3 overall, 10-2 OVC) to the Jack Stephens Center for a two-day series Friday and Saturday.
 
Little Rock (7-16, 4-8) trails UT-Martin by a game for eighth place with six matches to go. The top eight teams in the regular season advance to the OVC Championships. Friday's game against EIU is slated for 6 pm with Saturday's matinee set for 2 pm. Both matches can be seen on ESPN+.
 
MATCH NOTES
 
SERIES HISTORY — The Panthers lead the all-time series against the Trojans, 4-0, although this weekend will be the first time the two teams meet in Little Rock. Last season, EUI swept the conference series in Charleston, Ill., each in straight sets. The first two meetings between the schools took place in 1994 and 2002.
 
THE RACE FOR 8 — UT-Martin is currently eighth in the OVC at 6-8, with Little Rock next at 4-8. But the Trojans only trail SIUE, Southern Indiana, and Western Illinois (all tied for 5^th at 6-6) by just two games. Tennessee Tech is a half-game back of Little Rock at 4-9. With six matches left in the regular season, the race for the tournament should come down to the wire.
 
SETTING RECORDS — The Trojans set a new single-game program record for blocks (29) last Saturday at Lindenwood, obliterating the previous record of 22.5, set in 1993 and matched in 2001 … Daedrianna Cail recorded 14 blocks in the match – one short of the program single-match record – in helping the Trojans complete a reverse sweep win over the Lions.
 
PANTHER POWER — EIU is at or near the top of most statistical category rankings among OVC teams … the Panthers lead the conference in hitting percentage (.277) and service aces (2.08/s), while ranking second in kills (13.4/s), assists (12.6/s) and opponent hitting percentage (.173) … EIU is 8-2 in its last 10 matches, and has not lost on the road (7-0).