Trojans dig deep, hold off pesky Providence in Lion Invitational finale

COMMERCE, Texas — Little Rock battled through five highly-contested sets against Big East foe Providence on Saturday before finally securing a 3-2 win to take two of three matches at the Lion Invitational.
 
Four players set or tied single-game marks while another reached a career milestone for the Trojans (2-1), who bounced back from a flat performance in their opener on Friday to take the final two matches of the weekend. Little Rock won by scores of 25-23, 15-25, 25-16, 24-26, and 16-14.
 

"I'm very proud of the way the team finished. We did struggle at times in serve receive, but our pin hitters did an excellent job attacking out of system. After the first set, we made adjustments that allowed us to come back strong, creating opportunities to move the ball and involve our middles out of serve receive and in transition. Overall, we saw a lot of improvement, and it was a great opportunity to grow as a team and make progress in areas that have been challenging in the past." — Associate head coach Jorge Martinez

 
Bella Cherry hammered down a career-best 23 kills to lead a Trojan attack that hit .271 for the contest, including a whopping .375 in the second frame and .421 in the final set. Cherry's previous best was 21, set during her freshman season. A'lanae Margaritha tied her career-high of 17 kills – set less than 24 hours before in a 3-1 victory over host East Texas A&M – and posted a .485 attack percentage. Freshman transfer Avery Fearnley reached a career-high with 11 kills, and Crismeyli Rodriguez also finished the game with 11. 
 
Dariana Valencia set 35 assists – a new single-game best – Kaylee Smith had 18, and Andrea Roman added six. The Trojans finished with 71 kills – the 11^th-highest team total in the rally scoring era. 
 
Defensively, Roman recorded a game-high 27 digs, putting her over the 1,000-dig mark for her career (1,005). Roman currently ranks 8^th on the program's career list. Valencia (15), Smith (14), and Cherry (11) all reached double figures. Margaritha led the team with five blocks, and Fearnley posted four of her own.
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NEXT UP: The Trojans stay local next weekend, facing SE Louisiana, Central Arkansas, and Boston College during the UCA Invitational on Sept. 5-6.