Welcome to the latest edition of your UALR Fall Sports Report.
Our latest report starts with Cross Country, where our mens and womens teams competed this past Saturday at the Chile Pepper Invitational, sponsored by the University of Arkansas. On the mens side, Johnny Purvis was the Trojans' top runner finishing in 40th place, while leading the team to 7th overall in the team competition. However, the ladies, led by Shannon Sullivan (168th individually), only had 4 runners in the event and didn't tally any points. The final event will take place at the Sun Belt Championships on October 30th, hosted by Western Kentucky. One other note: The mens XC team are still ranked 7th in South Central Region according to the latest NCAA polling.
Volleyball are still struggling to find their way throughout the season. However, Paige Gantar has emerged as the team's key force despite the poor won-loss record. This was made evident against Arkansas State in Jonesboro last Friday night, where UALR lost 3 sets to 1. Ms. Gantar posted her best performance with a .553 attack percentage, 22 kils and committed only one error the entire match. Sophomores Emily Pepperman and Daniela Souza had 20 and 19 digs respectively, each career highs, and senior Jennifer Elbert had her 6th double-double of the season with 38 assists and 10 digs. UALR (2-15, 0-7) will try once more to break their 8-match losing streak at home this weekend with matches against FIU Friday evening and Florida Atlantic Sunday afternoon at the Stephens Center.
Womens soccer inaugurated their Parents and Friends Weekend at Burns Park over the weekend and the event saw the largest and most vocal crowds of the season. Despite losing 2-1 to Troy, UALR had their finest defensive effort on home grass this season. Junior midfielder Taylor Gabbert tied the match at 1 apiece midway through the 2nd half before Troy closed the deal in the 78th minute. Ms. Gabbert would close out the weekend with 2 more goals on Sunday to propel the Lady Trojans to a remarkable comeback 3-2 win over South Alabama. The game winner was tallied by freshman Adrianna Queen with 5 minutes to go, her 5th goal of the season and her 2nd GW goal as well. UALR (6-11-0, 2-6-0) still have a chance to qualify for their 3rd straight appearance in next month's conference tournament as they close out their 3-match homestand Thursday night against North Texas, before going on the road at Denver on Sunday.
For further information of all UALR's teams, including rosters, schedules and team news, log on to
http://www.ualrtrojans.com. This has been your UALR Fall Sports Report.
