Razorbacks Ready for Trio of Matches in Arkansas Invite

Arkansas volleyball returns home this weekend and hosts three teams in invitational tournament action.

The Razorbacks will play Little Rock, Florida International and Colorado over the course of three days, with two matches on Friday. Arkansas opens with Little Rock at 10 a.m. on Friday and takes on FIU at 7:30 that evening. The team then takes Saturday off and returns to Barnhill for the tournament finale against Colorado on Sunday at 1 p.m.

All of Arkansas’ matches will be streamed live on SEC Network+ and live stats will be provided. Tickets for the weekend’s matches are available online, by phone or in person.

The full Arkansas Invitational schedule is below.

9/8 FIU vs. Little Rock, 5 p.m.
9/9 Arkansas vs. Little Rock, 10 a.m.
9/9 Colorado vs. FIU, 12 p.m.
9/9 Little Rock vs. Colorado, 5 p.m.
9/9 Arkansas vs. FIU, 7:30 p.m.
9/11 Arkansas vs. Colorado, 1 p.m.

Last Time Out
The Hogs hit the road for the first time last weekend and didn’t drop a single set in sweeps over host Colorado State, Alabama State and FGCU. Junior outside hitter paced the Arkansas offense over the course of the three matches with 26 kills and a 4.39 hitting percentage. The Razorbacks also made history in the team’s match against Alabama State with a new program-best single match hitting percentage of .536 against the Lady Hornets.

Veteran Hogs Jill Gillen and Gracie Ryan also hit personal milestones during the Colorado trip. Gillen pushed her career kill count to 1,276, which puts her at No. 10 all-time in career kills for Arkansas, and Ryan became the fifth Arkansas setter ever to reach 3,000 assists.

Scouting the Series: Little Rock

  • Last meeting resulted in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory for Little Rock
  • Trojans have wins against Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State this season
  • Returned last season’s second-best hitter Nedima Kamberovic for 2022, who currently leads LR with 2.41 kills/set
  • Record: 2-4

Stat leaders

  • Kills/set: Nedima Kamberovic, 2.41
  • Assists/set: Gabrielle Spankus, 6.40
  • Digs/set: Rylee McClintock, 3.25
  • Blocks/set: Zanobia Willis, 0.94

FIU

  • Last outing at Georgia Tech Invitational saw OH Emily Meyer named to All-Tournament Team with 43 kills over three matches
  • First season for the Panthers with HC Cristina Robertson at the helm and the squad has 13 newcomers
  • First-ever meeting between Arkansas and FIU
  • Record: 0-6

Stat Leaders

  • Kills/set: Emily Meyer, 3.09
  • Assists/set: Camila De La Rosa, 8.60
  • Digs/set: Katie Turner, 3.95
  • Blocks/set: Beste Ayhan, 1.75

Colorado

  • First-ever meeting between Colorado and Arkansas
  • Like Arkansas, CU is also receiving votes in the AVCA weekly coaches poll, and the Buffs are 5-0 including a sweep against then-No.19 Illinois
  • Alexia Kuehl was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after posting two blocks per set last weekend and leads the Pac-12 with 1.89 per set, also good for second in the NCAA
  • Record: 5-0

Stat Leaders

  • Kills/set: Lexi Hadrych, 3.61
  • Assists/set: Taylor Simpson, 10.39
  • Digs/set: Katie Lougeay, 3.44
  • Blocks/set: Alexia Kuehl, 1.89

More Information
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