LITTLE ROCK — If Southeast Missouri – the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions – came into Saturday's match with a target on its back, that target may have moved onto the shoulder of the Little Rock Trojans, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit to upend the Redhawks 3-2 in front of a home crowd at the Jack Stephens Center.
Little Rock (6-7, 1-0) beat SEMO (8-7, 1-1) for the first time since 2022, ending a string of four straight losses to the Redhawks, who appeared poised to leave with another win in the series. But, after a pair of Trojans collided on the court, leaving one down on the floor for several minutes, Little Rock used that as fuel to rally and send SEMO home on the losing end after a thrilling match with scores of 25-23, 24-26, 12-25, 25-23, and 15-11.
"It was a fantastic win for us. We bounced back after falling behind and played well, and this will give us a lot of confidence going into our next match," Little Rock head coach Van Compton said. "We really play off of momentum … we have a very high-spirited team. The girls believed that once we got to the fifth set, we would win. They played aggressively and with a lot of confidence, and those things will always help us win."
Vivian Lucumi matched her career-high with 18 kills on a .417 attack percentage (18k-3e-36a).
Kaylee Smith – one of the players involved in the collision – posted a double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs. Little Rock hit for a .500 percentage in the fifth set, posting 12 kills on 24 attempts with no errors.
Crismeyli Rodriguez finished with 19 kills and 14 digs,
Bella Cherry had 25 digs and 11 kills, and
Dariana Valencia added 26 assists and 16 digs.
Andrea Roman bounced back from the on-court collision to post a career-best 37 digs.
A'lanae Margaritha added 10 kills, and
Jaycee Kennedy had a team-high six blocks.
Little Rock rebounded from a 7-1 deficit to take the opening set, thanks to a 15-7 run that put them ahead 16-14. The Trojans led by as many as six (21-15) in the opening frame. The Trojans also led 21-17 in the second set, but SEMO put together five straight points for a 22-21 advantage and held off Little Rock to tie the match at 1-1.
After SEMO coasted to a third-set win, Little Rock never trailed in the fourth, leading by as many as four on several occasions. Rodriguez (seven kills) and Lucumi (six kills) led the way in the fourth. The final frame was tight until the Trojans went ahead 10-7, then finished the contest with four of the last five points.
Little Rock will hit the road for a getaway game Tuesday night against UT Martin (1-11, 0-1). The match is scheduled for 6:00 pm and will be available on ESPN+.
