Hogs Swept by Cats in Tough Home Stretch Finale
Arkansas volleyball concluded a challenging four-match homestand with four ranked teams on Sunday and was swept for the first time in the conference slate at the hands of No. 4 Kentucky (23-25, 11-25, 17-25).
Parker Duncan led the team in kills with 11 and had a team-high 26 swings on the day. Both of Arkansas’ starting middles made a big impact on offense with Aleki Alexander tallying seven kills and hitting .333, and Layla Smith posted five kills and hit .364. The two had just three combined hitting errors in the match.
The defense was spread amongst several players in the outing, with Laci Bohannan and Gaby Cornier both notching a match-high seven kills and freshmen Maggie McCarroll and Madi Benne each posting six.
Arkansas falls to 9-9 on the season with the loss and is 1-6 in SEC play with seven matches remaining in the conference slate.
Set 1
Kentucky got out to a hot start with a quick 6-2 lead, the only points for Arkansas coming off Wildcat service errors. The Razorbacks began to settle in after a Bohannan solo block and tied it at 6-all thanks to a libero kill from Benne. It was close from there and the Hogs hit double digits first off a kill from Thurman. There were two ties after that, but Arkansas used a 3-1 run to pull ahead 15-13 at the technical break. The Razorbacks continued to hold the lead for a bit, but the tide began to turn once the Wildcats tied it at 18-all. After that, Kentucky limited Arkansas to just one or two points at a time, and while the Razorbacks did knot it up at 23-23, a Wildcat kill and Arkansas error sealed the opening set 25-23 for the visiting team.
Set 2
Again, neither team gave the other much room to breathe in the early goings of the second set, and neither led by more than two points until Kentucky went over double digits first at 10-7. The Wildcats were on a roll from there and got five more unanswered points for a 15-7 advantage at the technical timeout. There was simply no stopping the Cats and they added six to just one for Arkansas, and the Razorbacks took time down 21-8. Arkansas did manage to get over double digits, but the Kentucky offensive onslaught was too much and the Wildcats cruised to a 25-11 set victory.
Set 3
The third set was a game of back-and-forth, but a 6-1 run by Kentucky had the Wildcats pull away a bit at 12-8. Kentucky continued to hold off the Hogs and held a 15-10 advantage at the technical break of the set. The Cats tacked on two more, at which point the Razorbacks huddled, now down seven. Arkansas battled back and cut the deficit to five, but the Hogs ran out of time to mount any real comeback. One last ace from the Wildcats made it 25-17 and secured the sweep for Kentucky.
Up Next
The Hogs hit the road next week with matches against Alabama and Mississippi State. They take on the Tide at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23 in Tuscaloosa and the Bulldogs on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. in Starkville.
More Information
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