Next match:
at Tennessee Technological University
October 26, 2024 | 7:00 p.m.
ESPN+
October 26th (Sat) 19:00
at Tennessee Technological University
History Cookeville, Tenn. — In a close battle between two teams for position in the Ohio Valley Conference, it wasn’t the team with the highest score that did better, but rather the team with the fewest mistakes. . Little Rock was the more efficient of the two schools, turning Tennessee Tech’s 51 errors into a 3-1 road win Friday at Eblen Center. The Trojans (13-10 overall, 8-2 OVC) extended their winning streak to five, making it Little Rock’s longest winning streak in the conference since 2014.
Little Rock took advantage of the Golden Eagles’ 34 attack errors and 13 service errors to hand Tennessee Tech (16-5, 5-4) their first home loss of the season, 75-5. They outscored the Trojans by a huge margin of 61, but just couldn’t get out of their own way. The Trojans were willing to let the hosts shoot themselves in the foot, remaining in third place in the conference standings, a half-game behind second-place SEMO and 1.5 behind Lindenwood.
Kyla Harris and Alanae Margarita provided a big spark for Little Rock, producing key points when the Trojans needed it most. Harris totaled 15 digs, 13 kills and three blocks, earning her third double-double of the season. Margarita had eight kills, tied a career high with seven blocks, and added two aces. Sophomore Andrea Roman added 18 goals and six assists and added the single-season dig record (432) to the school record from the rally-scoring era. Roman is currently 10th on the all-time list, 73 points out of the top five. She is on track to erase the program record (541) by the end of the year.
“This was a great win for us on the road to maintain our standing in the conference. Kayla and Aranae both had great games. But our job is not done yet, so we’re looking forward to tomorrow night. ” – Little Rock Head Coach Van Compton.
The contest featured 39 ties and 15 lead changes, with neither team leading by more than five points at any point in the game. Little Rock led by five points in the first set, and TTU led by five points in the fourth. Ironically, neither team was able to win the set with the largest lead. Tennessee Tech won the first set, but Little Rock snapped a three-set winning streak. Set scores were 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22.
Dariana Valencia had 21 goals and 20 assists for her 11th double-double of the season and second 20-20 game of the season. Jayla Fullerton had 15 digs and 10 assists for her team-leading 13th double-double, Kaylee Smith had 14 assists and 10 digs for her seventh double-double, and Bella Cherry had nine kills and four blocks.
The final game of the series begins Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Eblen Center. Live streaming is available on ESPN+.
