MARTIN, Tenn. — Little Rock stormed out of the gate during Tuesday's Ohio Valley Conference match and never looked back, rolling to a sweep of UT Martin at the Skyhawk Fieldhouse by scores of 25-13, 25-19, and 25-14. The Trojans (7-7, 2-0) and extended their win streak over UTM to five consecutive matches. Little Rock is 12-3 all-time against the Skyhawks, who fell to 1-12, 0-2.
"It's always good to win on the road … Bella, Jaycee, and Andrea played really well tonight and made a big difference for us," head coach Van Compton said. "We started the match attacking very efficiently and it carried over through the entire match. We have some good momentum coming back home for two games this weekend."
The Trojans hit .257 in the match while holding the Skyhawks' offense to a paltry .037 attack percentage. Bella Cherry hit .500 and led all players with 13 kills, Vivian Lucumi had eight kills, hitting .353 and Jaycee Kennedy added five while attacking at a .556 clip. Crismeyli Rodriguez finished with 10 kills and A'lanae Margaritha added five.
Kaylee Smith and Dariana Valencia each had 17 assists, while Rodriguez and Margaritha chipped in a pair of aces apiece. Defensively, Andrea Roman led the way with 16 digs, Rodriguez had 12 and Cherry added 10. Kennedy and Rodriguez each had three blocks and Margaritha led the Trojans with four.
Little Rock hit a blistering .457 in the opening set (18k-2e-35A), jumped out to an 8-2 lead and led 19-9 and 22-11 before closing out the set by a dozen points. Rodriguez hit .625 in the set with five kills, while Lucumi added four while hitting .571. The Trojans never trailed in the opening set.
Cherry had six kills and hit .667 in the second set, which saw the score tied at 10-10 before the Trojans went ahead 14-11. They led by as much as 21-14 and 24-17 before ending the set. Cherry had four kills in the final frame and Little Rock led 8-2 early before opening a 21-11 advantage. They never trailed in the set.
The Trojans return home this weekend for a two-match series with Tennessee State on Oct. 3-4 at the Jack Stephens Center. Match times are 6 p.m. and 2 p.m. and both matches can be seen on ESPN+. Saturday will be our Hometown Heroes match where all military and first responders receive up to four (4) complimentary tickets when they present their ID at the ticket office.
For the latest information on Little Rock Volleyball, check out LRTrojans.com. You can also follow the team on social media at @LittleRockVB on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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