Razorbacks Fall in Four on Senior Day

While the Hogs kept it close throughout, Arkansas ultimately fell to Mississippi State in its final home match of the season on Friday, 3-1 (25-27, 25-21, 16-25, 18-25).

Graduate outside hitter Jada Lawson had a stellar night with a team-high 16 kills, which matched her career high. She also added a career high 12 digs for her first-ever double-double, and recorded a .256 hitting percentage, also a personal best.

Freshman outside Sydney Maue also had a career night with 10 kills and a .273 hitting clip. Junior Romani Thurman was second on the team in kills with 14 and hit .353 with only two errors, the second highest among Arkansas’ pins.

Graduate middle Zoi Evans posted a team-high five blocks in her last-ever match at Barnhill Arena with four kills on 10 attempts, zero errors.

Sophomore setter Kiki Remensperger had another double-double with 26 assists and 16 digs, her 14th of the season.

Set 1

The Hogs opened the first set with a big 5-1 run capped off by an ace from Livia Niu. It didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to catch up, and they quickly came within one as they settled in. Arkansas continued to keep State at bay just enough, and a kill from Maue maintained a two-point lead for the Razorbacks at 15-13. Coming out of the media break, the Bulldogs got four of the next seven points and took an 18-17 lead, at which point the Hogs huddled. Arkansas went back up by three shortly after, but State was never far behind. There were four more ties near the end of the set, but the Bulldogs went the distance and took it 27-25.

Set 2

The Razorbacks got off to a hot start in the second set with a 6-1 lead. Again, the Bulldogs answered with a little rally of their own to come within two, but the Arkansas offense hit double digits first with a kill from Lawson. Still, State stayed hot on the Hogs and quickly tied it at 12-12. Arkansas settled down and got the lead back, extending it to 17-14 off a Maue kill. The Bulldogs called two timeouts in quick succession but couldn’t string together a long enough run to fully shift the momentum. A State attack error took it to set point for Arkansas and while the Bulldogs spoiled it twice, a Thurman kill secured the set 25-21 for the Hogs.

Set 3

Arkansas set the tempo of the third set to start, but State rattled off six straight points for an 8-5 advantage. The Hogs came within one at 10-9 off a nice service run from Avery Calame, but the Bulldogs answered back with a 5-1 run and held a 15-10 lead at the media break. The Razorbacks couldn’t find a way to score more than a couple at a time while State kept its foot on the gas and cruised to a 25-16 set victory for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4

Again, the Bulldogs did a great job minimizing The Hogs’ chances and quickly jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the fourth set. Arkansas began to find its rhythm from there and scored five of the next six points, which prompted State to call time with a one-point lead. The break worked in the Bulldogs’ favor as they took control back and they made it 19-13 shortly after. The Hogs took a huddle of their own, but it didn’t do much to slow the Dogs down, and they carried the energy to a 25-18 set win and took the match.

Up Next

Arkansas hits the road next week for its final two SEC matches. The Hogs face Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. in Knoxville and Kentucky at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16 in Lexington. Both matches will be streamed on SEC Network+.

More Information

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