ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Little Rock took care of business Tuesday in the first of two matches at Lindenwood, and can clinch the No. 4 seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Championships with a win in tomorrow's regular season finale at Hyland Arena.
The Trojans (16-13, 11-6 OVC) didn't blink in a staredown with a tough Lions squad, taking the match in straight sets, 25-23, 25-19, and 25-19. Little Rock hit .309 for the match, including .333 in the second set and .355 in the third, closing out the sweep.
"The girls took care of business tonight and I'm proud of the way they dug down when things got close and closed out some tough sets," head coach
Van Compton said. "Our offense was sharp and kept the pressure on Lindenwood, and that made a big difference."
Bella Cherry led the way, putting down a game-high 15 kills while hitting .367, and
Crismeyli Rodriguez hit .500 to finish with 11 kills.
A'lanae Margaritha served up four of Little Rock's eight aces on the evening, and
Dariana Valencia finished with 19 assists, putting her in the program record book where she's now 10th all-time in career assists.
"I thought we did really well minimizing our errors while still staying aggressive," Cherry said. "Our team is playing really well and staying mentally tough, not letting ourselves get rattled during close matches."
Lindenwood tried to steer clear of Adriana Roman, one of the top liberos in the nation, but the junior still managed to lead all players with 14 digs. Valencia added 11 digs to finish off a double-double, while senior captain
Jaycee Kennedy finished with five kills on six attacks with no errors (.833) to go with a pair of blocks.
Little Rock and Lindenwood square off again on Wednesday at 6:00 pm to close out the regular season. The match can be streamed on ESPN+.
