Little Rock, SEMO meet Tuesday evening with OVC position at stake

Two of the top teams in the Ohio Valley Conference will tangle on Tuesday evening when the Little Rock Trojans and Southeast Missouri Redhawks meet inside the Jack Stephens Center for a big conference matchup. The two squads are separated by just a half-game in the OVC standings. The contest begins at 6 pm and is available for live streaming on ESPN+.
 
Little Rock (14-10 overall, 9-2 OVC) returns home having put together a string of six straight conference wins following a series sweep of Tennessee Tech in Cookeville last weekend. SEMO (11-10, 8-1) holds the second-place spot in the OVC, but by a slim margin over the Trojans in third. The Redhawks won the previous meeting this season in Cape Girardeau, a 3-1 contest back on Oct. 2.
 
Since that date, Little Rock has won seven of eight, including five of six on the road. The Trojans also completed a sweep of the state of Tennessee, having swept series against UT Martin, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. Little Rock's 14 wins is the most by the Trojans since 2021 and their six-game conference e win streak is the longest since 2014. Little Rock is also 4-1 at home, having won four in a row since a loss to Central Arkansas in its home opener.
 
SEMO brings with them a four-game overall win streak and has won seven straight in conference play. However, the Redhawks are just 3-6 as the road team this year, including a loss at UT Martin in late-September.
 
In the first meeting this season, Little Rock won the opening set in Cape Girardeau, but dropped the next three for their first OVC loss of the campaign. The Trojans hit just .127 in the game, which was decided by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 22-25, 19-25. Jeila Fullerton (17 digs, 15 kills), Dariana Valencia (17 assists, 12 digs), and Kaylee Smith (14 assists, 12 digs) posted double-doubles despite the loss.
 
Little Rock will also be home this weekend for a series against Western Illinois on Friday and Saturday, at 6 pm and 2 pm, respectively.