Little Rock opens season with first-day sweep at Lion Invitational

COMMERCE, Texas — Little Rock's 2024 season got off to a great start Friday at the Lion Invitational with a doubleheader sweep of host school Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State, setting up a Saturday showdown with in-state rival Central Arkansas to wrap up the two-day event tomorrow morning. Little Rock (2-0) dropped A&M-Commerce in four sets (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-18) and turned around quickly to go the distance with Tarleton State, winning in five (19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 21-25, 15-10). Senior Jeila Fullerton recorded double-doubles in both contests, including her first 20-20 against Tarleton, notching career-highs in kills (23) and digs (20).
 
LITTLE ROCK 3, A&M-COMMERCE 1
The Trojans were +22 in kills (57-35) against the Lions with Fullerton picking up her fifth career double-double and first since November 2022. She finished the match with 12 kills and 10 digs. Offensively, the Trojans were paced by Kaila Harris (13 kills, 3 aces), Sophia Garrido (9 kills), Bella Cherry (8 kills) and A'lanae Margaritha, who finished with 7 kills on .778 attacking. Kaylee Smith had a team-high 24 assists and Dariana Valencia finished with 23 assists and a pair of aces.
 

"We didn't have a scouting report on A&M-Commerce but we did great making adjustments during the match. We let our guard down a little in the second match but recovered to take the momentum and get the win." — Little Rock head coach Van Compton

 
Defensively the Trojans were tough at the net, totaling 24 blocks in the match. Andrea Roman led the team with 28 digs, Rylee McClintock added 12 digs, and both Garrido and Smith had seven digs apiece. Harris had a team-high seven blocks, Cherry and Margaritha each had six blocks and Jaycee Kennedy had three blocks.  
LITTLE ROCK 3, TARLETON STATE 2
Fullerton, Harris and Valencia recorded new career-bests in the five-set win over the Texans. Harris finished with a double-double, including a career-best 14 kills to go with 11 digs, while Valencia added a 30-assist, 15-dig double-double, setting a new high mark for digs.
 

"Tarleton has two all-conference middle blockers and we did a good job containing them. They are scrappy on defense. I'm really proud of how they performed, playing back-to-back matches with only 30 minutes of rest between the two." — Little Rock head coach Van Compton

 
Offensively, Fullerton had her 23 kills on .254 hitting, Kennedy added seven kills (.583 pct) and Margaritha had seven kills (.467 pct) while Cherry added seven and Garrido had six. Smith had 27 assists and a pair of aces. On the defensive side, Roman posted 25 digs, Kennedy led the team with five blocks, and Margaritha and Cherry each added three blocks. Harris and Garrido each had a pair of blocks.