20 Nov 2024 Little Rock falls to Lindenwood in five after early lead
Little Rock took two of the first three sets in Tuesday’s conference game against Lindenwood at the Jack Stephens Center, but couldn’t close out the Lions, who went on to rally for a 3-2 win, knocking the Trojans into a three-way tie for third in the Ohio Valley Conference with one game to play. Lindenwood won by scores of 19-25, 26-24, 18-25, 25-21, and 15-10.
Little Rock (16-14 overall, 11-6 OVC) entered the game needing a sweep of the final two regular season to secure the No. 2 seed in next week’s OVC Championship. Instead, the Trojans find themselves in a situation where they could finish anywhere from third to sixth. Lindenwood (19-10, 13-4) kept its regular season title hopes alive.
Jeila Fullerton finished with a team-high 19 kills to go with 17 digs, Bella Cherry hammered down 16 kills, and Kaila Harris posted 20 digs and 10 kills. Dariana Valencia set 30 assists and added 13 digs, Andrea Roman finished with 30 digs and eight assists, and Kaylee Smith added 18 assists and 15 digs. A’lanae Margaritha put up eight kills, three aces and three blocks.
Fullerton’s double-double was her team-leading 18th of the season while Valencia’s is her 16th of the year. Jaycee Kennedy added four blocks, leaving her three shy of 100 for the season. Cherry led the team with a .389 attack percentage, setting a new career-best for the sophomore. Harris’ 20 digs tied her previous single-game career best. Little Rock finished with 104 digs, setting a new single-season team record (2,157).
The two teams will wrap up the regular season tomorrow at 6 pm at the Jack Stephens Center. The OVC Championship is scheduled for Nov. 24-26 at a site still to be determined.
