Razorbacks Get Second Consecutive Sweep on Friday
The Hogs kept rolling and registered their second consecutive sweep as they took down the North Dakota State Bison on Friday night (25-10, 25-16, 25-18).
Freshman outside Parker Duncan put up a .407 hitting clip for the second match in a row and led the team with 13 kills on the night. She had just two errors in her 27 attempts, helping push the Hogs to a .333 percentage as a team.
Duncan was one of three Razorbacks to take 20+ swings on the night, including Lakin Laurendine with 22 and Romani Thurman with 30. They each added eight kills apiece and hit over .300: .318 for Laurendine and .350 for Thurman.
Arkansas’ middle blockers Zoi Evans and Journey Peppers both had great showings on offense and defense. Evans had six blocks and three kills. She also added three aces, tripling her previous career high. Peppers put down four kills and had blocks, including two solo. The Hogs ultimately tallied 12 team blocks, their fourth time hitting the mark this season.
In addition to Evans, four other Razorbacks added aces on the night: two each for Avery Calame and Gaby Cornier and one for Kiki Remensperger and Laurendine.
Set 1
Arkansas came out firing in the first set with a quick 7-2 run, highlighted by aces from Gaby Cornier and Zoi Evans. The Hogs kept on pushing and doubled up the lead at 14-7 off a kill from Evans. There was nothing that the Bison could do to stop the Razorbacks, or Evans specifically, as she went on a huge 9-0 service runs with two more aces for three total on the set, and Arkansas got to set point easily. NDSU showed a little bit of life and scored two more to keep the set going a bit longer, but a block from Journey Peppers and Romani Thurman closed the door on the set 25-10 and put the Hogs up 1-0. The margin was Arkansas’ biggest set victory since they defeated Louisiana Tech 25-9 in the 2024 season.
Set 2
NDSU swung the momentum in their favor for a brief part of set two and while the Hogs chased closely, the Bison maintained the lead at 9-6. A 4-0 spurt by the Razorbacks, including two blocks and a kill from Thurman, turned the Tide, and Arkansas led 10-9. The Bison tied it, but five more unanswered from the Hogs soon followed and they extended the advantage to 15-10. NDSU couldn’t score more than a couple at the time while Arkansas kept putting up long strings of points, with six straight that put the Razorbacks to away from the set victory. The Bison added a couple, but two errors from them gave the middle frame to Arkansas, 25-16.
Set 3
Cornier added her second ace of the night and Evans got two more blocks in the early points of the third set, pushing the Hogs to a 4-0 lead. The Bison came within three, but the Razorbacks kept up their high tempo and four straight kills from Duncan and one from Evans made it 14-6 for the Hogs in a hurry. Remensperger added Arkansas’ ninth ace of the night at 16-7 but play started to even out slightly from there. Both teams added five points apiece, but Arkansas made it over the 20 mark with a kill from Peppers. The Bison came within five, but two kills from Duncan came after and NDSU called time. The Bison put up three more, but one last block from Thurman and Evans secured the set 25-18 and the match sweep.
Up Next
Arkansas’ final match of the Razorback Invitational will be the first-ever meeting between the Hogs and the Arkansas State Red Wolves. First serve is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday and the match will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
More Information
Visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas Volleyball. You can also find the Hogs on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Volleyball) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackVB).
