Roman sets single-season digs record as Trojans fall 3-2 at Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, Illinois — Little Rock Volleyball fell just short of pulling off a reverse sweep Friday in an important conference matchup, and instead fell 3-2 at the hands of Eastern Illinois at Groniger Arena in the series opener. The Trojans fell to 0-8 all-time against the Panthers while seeing their chances at winning the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title dwindle down to almost zero.
 
Little Rock (15-13 overall, 10-5 OVC) struggled to find its offensive footing early in the contest, which led to the Trojans falling into a 2-0 hole, and ultimately led to the loss in the fifth and deciding set. The Trojans hit just .128 in the opening frame but improved to .229 in the second. However, Eastern Illinois (8-15, 4-9) erased that by hitting .324 in the second. After Little Rock had rallied to send the match to a fifth, the offense fell flat again, hitting just .030 with six kills to five errors, while EIU finished at .222 in the final set.
 
Jeila Fullerton led the Trojans with 16 kills and 17 digs while hitting .222, Kaila Harris posted 14 kills and 17 digs, A'lanae Margaritha recorded her first double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 11 blocks, while Bella Cherry finished with a dozen kills. Dariana Valencia set 32 assists to go with 15 digs and Kaylee Smith totaled 21 assists with 11 digs. Andrea Roman led the team with 28 digs and moved into first all-time in program history for digs in a single season (557).
 
Little Rock will look to even up the series in tomorrow's finale, schedule for a 4 pm start in Charleston.