MACOMB, Ill. — Little Rock head coach
Van Compton wanted her squad to carry the momentum from a pivotal win over Morehead State last weekend into a road series against Western Illinois. It certainly looked like the Trojans were still riding that wave, hitting a season-high .388 percent on Thursday during a 3-0 sweep of the Leathernecks inside Western Hall.
Little Rock easily did away with the host team by scores of 25-15, 25-18, and 25-15, giving Compton the 600
thwin of her tenure in the capital city. The Trojans improved to 13-12 overall and 8-5 in Ohio Valley Conference play with five matches remaining in the regular season. The series finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday.
"This was a great performance by our team … the balance of offense was very effective, and our defense played very well. I'm very proud of the effort tonight and honored to represent this university through 600 wins." – Little Rock head coach Van Compton
The Trojans hammered down 50 kills on 98 attacks with just 12 errors and hit .353 and .351 in the first two sets, respectively, before closing out the contest with a .481 attack percentage in the third.
Bella Cherry led all players with 12 kills while hitting .259,
Vivian Lucumi hit .438 for nine kills, and
Sophia Garrido had nine of her own on .300 hitting.
Crismeyli Rodriguez hit .500 with no errors to finish with eight kills.
Jaycee Kennedy (six kills, .556) and
A'lanae Margaritha (four kills, .500) were also highly effective in the middle.
Dariana Valencia set 26 assists,
Kaylee Smith added 16, and Cherry served up three of Little Rock's eight aces in the match.
Andrea Roman led the defensive effort with 18 digs, and Rodriguez had a dozen. Margaritha led all players with five blocks, and Lucumi had three.
"Our setters did a great job moving the ball around today, and we did a good job of tooling the block. We all carried over the energy from the win over Morehead, and if we can come back tomorrow and play like we did today, we'll get the job done again." – Little Rock junior Bella Cherry
With just two matches on Thursday across the OVC, the Trojans enter tomorrow's match in fifth, just a half-game back of Tennessee Tech (9-5) and Southern Indiana (8-4). Morehead State (12-1) still holds the overall lead with Eastern Illinois (10-2) in second. SEMO and Lindenwood are tied for sixth at 6-6, and SIUE currently holds the eighth spot at 7-8.
Little Rock can clinch a berth in the OVC Championships with a win tomorrow.
