MOREHEAD, Kentucky — Any momentum gained in Friday's come-from-behind victory at Morehead State didn't carry over to Saturday's series finale, as the host Eagles fought off Little Rock in three straight sets to prevent a series sweep at Johnson Arena. Little Rock fell by scores of 26-24, 25-20, and 29-27. The Trojans (8-10 overall, 3-2 OVC) struggled on the offensive side, hitting just .119 for the match with just 38 kills to 23 hitting errors. Morehead State (6-9, 2-2) countered with a .235 hitting percentage with 46 kills to just 14 errors.
Bella Cherry had a team-high 10 kills but was the only Trojans to reach double figures.
Â
There was no shortage of tie scores (28) and the lead changed hands a dozen times, but the host Eagles were more efficient in crunch time. Little Rock led 23-19 in the opening set before Morehead ripped off seven of the last eight points to steal an early 1-0 lead. Little Rock hit just .054 in the set with almost as many errors (7) as kills (9). The second set was controlled largely by the Eagles as Little Rock never led in the set but did get to within 18-15 before the Eagles closed it out for a 2-0 lead. The Trojans were much better on the attack (.257), but the Eagles were virtually unstoppable at .353 percent with 15 kills to just three errors. Little Rock also gave away three points on service errors.
Â
Little Rock led late in the third set (21-18) and were at set point on two occasions but back-to-back kills by Morehead tied the score at 24-24. The teams traded points to make it 27-27 and the Eagles closed it out with the last two tallies.
Kaylee Smith recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 16 assists and 10 digs,
Andrea Roman had a team-high 14 digs and
Dariana Valencia led the Trojans with 17 assists to go with nine digs.
Kaila Harris finished with nine kills and 12 digs, while
Jaycee Kennedy and
Vivian Lucumi each had four blocks.
Â
Little Rock returns home next week to host Southern Indiana (8-9, 3-2) on Friday and Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center.
Â
