UALR Volleyball Keeps Winning – 11 in a Row
TROY, Ala. – UALR volleyball (13-4, 5-0 Sun Belt Conference) ran its winning streak to 11 overall and eight in SBC matches that go to the fifth set thanks to a 25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 18-25, 15-9 win at Troy (7-12, 2-3 SBC) Monday morning (Oct. 7).
Troy held a slim edge in kills (61-59), digs (60-56) and hitting percentage (.1694-.1686), but UALR used a 13-11 edge at the net in the victory.
Individually, three different UALR players contributed double-doubles in the victory. JuniorEdina Begic had 22 kills and a team-best 21 digs while sophomore Sonja Milanovic added 22 kills and 13 digs. Junior Marleen de Zoete added her first double-dip of the season with 50 assists and 10 digs. She also had six kills on 13 attempts with no errors for a match-best .462 hitting percentage.
Junior Capri Rino added 14 digs and an assist while redshirt freshman Carolee Dillardrecorded seven blocks.
For Troy, Blair Winston had 20 kills while Marija Zelenovic contributed 15. Alexandra Alexander added 52 assists while Courtney Cohen had a match-best 23 digs.
Both teams had early runs in the fifth set to keep the deciding frame close. A kill by de Zoete and a de Zoete-Dillard block gave UALR the first two points. Two Blair kills around Begic’s only attack error in the set gave Troy the 3-2 lead. UALR would sideout on every Troy serve the rest of the set.
After both teams traded points, Begic captured three straight kills to put UALR up 6-4. Both teams sided out the next eight points before Troy closed in to 10-9 on a kill. After an official stoppage, a Begic kill put Rino on serve and the home team would never start behind the service line again. A de Zoete-Hodzic block, a Troy attack error and a Begic slam put the visitors on set point. Winston hit the ball out on an attack attempt and UALR won the match 3-2.
In the fifth set alone, Begic had more kills herself (eight) than Troy recorded as a team (seven). Begic had eight kills on 13 attempts and only one error to hit .538 in the deciding set.
A 6-1 run in the middle of the first set was the catalyst for UALR taking the first frame. Down 16-14, a Begic kill put Milanovic on serve. A Troy error tied the match and a Dillard kill put UALR up for good in the frame. Another Troy error put UALR up 18-16. Both teams traded a point before a Hodzic-de Zoete block was followed by a Hodzic-Begic block to put UALR up 21-17 and forced Troy to call a timeout. The home team rallied to within one, but kills by Milanovic and Hodzic ended the set.
UALR improves to 7-2 when winning the first set in 2013.
A nip-and-tuck second set went the way of the home team to tie the match. Tied at 22, a Winston kill and a Milanovic error put Troy on set point. Milanovic and Begic attacks found the court to tie the set. A Zelnovic kill and a Kayla Pickart block tied the match heading into intermission.
Service runs by junior Allison Wyatt and Milanovic put UALR up 2-1. Tied at 11 in the third, an error by Troy and a de Zoete kill put UALR up 13-11. Both team traded points when another Troy error, a de Zoete kill and Milanovic’s only ace of the afternoon put the visitors up 16-12 and forced a Troy timeout. UALR held strong out of the breather and a Troy attack error and a Begic kill gave UALR its largest lead of the afternoon at 18-12. Troy closed the gap to 23-21, but a Milanovic kill and a Troy error put UALR ahead a set.
For the frame, Milanovic had eight kills and only one error on 14 swings (.500 hitting percentage) while de Zoete was 5-for-7 with no errors (.714 hitting percentage).
Troy responded in the fourth to tie the match and send it to a deciding fifth set. With UALR trailing 11-10, Hodzic hit a ball out and Winston found the floor twice. UALR called a timeout, but the break did not deter Troy as a pair of solo blocks and a Leech attack error put the home team up 17-10. Troy went on to win the frame by seven points.
With the win, UALR is now 5-2 when playing a match on Monday since 1991, including winning both conference matches it has played.
UALR returns to action this weekend when it makes its lone trip to the Lone Star State. UALR battles UT Arlington Friday (Oct. 11) at 7 p.m. before closing out the weekend at Texas State Sunday (Oct. 13) at 1 p.m.
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