Little Rock turns in best performance of the year, sweeps opening match at UT Martin

MARTIN, Tenn. — With little room for error in the remaining two weeks of the season, Little Rock played loose and relaxed Thursday to open a back-to-back against UT Martin, and it paid off as the Trojans routed the host Skyhawks 3-0 in a much-needed win at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
 
Little Rock (8-18, 5-10 OVC) hit for a season-best .263 percent, Bella Cherry had a game-high 13 kills and Dariana Valencia recorded a 22-assist, 12-dig double-double to lead the Trojans past UT Martin (8-17, 6-9). Little Rock improved to 3-9 on the road with scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-18.
 
The Trojans never trailed in the first and third sets, a big part of that due to Little Rock's hitting percentages of .293 and .359 in those sets, respectively. Daedrianna Cail (9 kills) and Daria Burrows (7 kills) each hit for a team-high .467 percentage. Cail also had six of the Trojans' 13 blocks.
 
Little Rock closed out the first set on a 7-2 run then scored eight of the last nine points in the second set after trailing 19-17. In the final set, the Trojans went up by as many as 11 points (14-3) and rode that momentum all the way to a straight set victory.
 
Little Rock and UT Martin will meet again at 6 pm Friday. The match can be seen on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at lrtrojans.com.