Trojans riding season-best win streak into OVC Championship quarterfinals

The Little Rock volleyball team will look to upend the top seed in the OVC Championships when they take on Eastern Illinois on Monday at 1 pm to open the three-day tournament in Charleston, Ill. Little Rock (11-18) enters the tournament with its longest win streak of the season, having won its final four games of the season to grab the eighth and final berth. The host Panthers (25-4) went 15-3 in conference play to earn the right to host the postseason conference event.
 
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The Trojans sat in tenth place following a pair of straight set losses to EIU back on Nov. 4, but responded by sweeping a pair at UT Martin, then another at home last week against SIUE to move up two spots and earn their first OVC Championships appearance in their second season in the conference. Monday's match can be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
SERIES HISTORY – Eastern Illinois has never lost to Little Rock, holding an 6-0 all-time mark against the Trojans, including two 3-0 wins earlier this month. In fact, the Trojans have not won a set in the last four meetings, all coming in OVC matches.
 
During the current win streak, Bella Cherry has posted 13 kills in three of the games, Andrea Roman had a career-best 31 digs in the win over SIUE on Nov. 16, and Daedrianna Cail hit .467 or better in three of four matches, including .529 in the tournament-clinching win. She's also had two six-block games in the last four outings.
 
Monday's winner will advance to the Tuesday semifinal round against the winner of No. 4 Morehead State and No. 5 Southern Indiana. All OVC Championship contests can be streamed on ESPN+.