Hogs Fall in Four in Oxford

 Despite winning the first set handily, the Razorbacks couldn’t stop a comeback by the Ole Miss Rebels as they won the next three and defeated the Hogs 3-1 in Oxford.

Aniya Madkin and Olivia Ruy both chipped in a dozen kills, and Romani Thurman added 11. Hannah Hogue paced the offense with 31 assists and 16 digs, her seventh-straight double-double.

Along with Hogue, three other Hogs had 10+ digs on the evening: Courtney Jackson with a team-high 20, Kylie Weeks with 12 and Ruy with 11.

Set 1

While the start of the set was close, Ole Miss used a 3-0 run to flip the lead in their favor at 7-6. The Hogs settled in after that with a four-point run highlighted by an ace from Kylie Weeks, and Ole Miss called time. While neither team had any long runs from there, the Razorbacks continued to hold the lead and quickly found themselves up 17-11, which sent the Rebels to a huddle. The Rebs couldn’t do much and the Hogs kept steady, with an ace from Hannah Hogue putting them four points away. Ole Miss made it to 16, but a Rebel service error made it 25-16 and put Arkansas up 1-0 in the match.

Set 2

The second set started with a shift in momentum to Ole Miss’ side, and the Rebels prevented the Razorbacks from scoring more than one at a time while they extended their lead to 10-4. Arkansas came back within three shortly after, but couldn’t keep a spark going for very long and the Hogs were down 15-10 at the media break. Arkansas kept chipping away, but the Rebs punched back to a 22-16 lead, which sent the Hogs to a timeout. The Razorbacks got three more but ran out of time as Ole Miss took set two 25-19 and evened the match.

Set 3

Arkansas started the third frame with the lead thanks to a pair of nice blocks, but Ole Miss turned it on quickly and went up 7-3. The Hogs only managed to get one more point before the Rebs hit 10, and Arkansas huddled down 10-4. The Razorbacks just couldn’t generate the momentum they needed, and the Rebs cruised to a 25-16 set win that put them up 2-1.

Set 4

With their backs against the wall, the Razorbacks came out firing in the fourth set and used a 3-0 run with back-to-back service aces from Ava Roth to go up 8-3. Following an Ole Miss timeout the Rebs came within two, but Arkansas got to 10 first off an error. The Rebels kept chasing though and used a 6-2 streak to tie the set at 15-all. It was a tough battle from there as the teams kept trading blows, but Ole Miss pulled ahead 22-21 and sent Arkansas to a timeout. The Rebels proved to have more left in them and they scored all three of the next points to seal the set 25-21 and took the match 3-1.

Up Next

Arkansas starts a four-match road swing next week with contests at Ole Miss and LSU. Action in Oxford on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. and Sunday’s matinee in Baton Rouge is at 2 p.m.

More Information

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