Razorbacks Sweep Wolfpack at ACC/SEC Challenge

Arkansas finished out action at the ACC/SEC Challenge on Friday with a match against host NC State and came away with a 3-0 sweep.

The Razorbacks took down the Wolfpack with set scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18. Arkansas went 1-1 over the weekend and is now 9-2 on the season. 

The Hogs recorded highs and records throughout the match, starting with senior setter Gracie Ryan. Ryan recorded 34 assists, which puts her over 2,000 in her career. She also tallied four kills on four attempts with no errors for a season high kill count and hitting percentage of 1.000. Her 11 digs in addition to double-digit assists gave her her sixth double-double of the season, a team best. 

Junior Maggie Cartwright posted four aces in the match, which ties a career high that she set earlier this season against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. 

Sophomore Taylor Head led the Razorbacks in the match with 18 kills, just one shy of her career high of 19. She also led Arkansas in hitting percentage and total attempts with .417 and 36, respectively.

The home team got off to a hot start in the first set and took an 8-1 lead, which sent the Razorbacks to a timeout. Arkansas then got a boost with a 5-0 run of its own featuring three kills from Cartwright and two aces from junior Jill GIllen, which narrowed the NC State lead to two points and prompted a timeout. The next eight out of 10 points went to the Razorbacks, and they took their first lead of the night, 14-10. The Wolfpack tied it back up three more times and regained the lead at 20-19, but an ace by Cartwright tied it at 21-all and sparked a run that was all Razorbacks. She added another ace and a kill from senior Ellease Crumpton closed the set 25-21 in favor of Arkansas.

The two teams steadily traded points in the second set until Arkansas began to break away with four straight points, capped off with an ace from Cartwright, which sent NC State to a timeout down 19-15. The Hogs kept the momentum going and tallied three more points, including another ace from Cartwright and a kill from Head, and went up 22-15. The Wolfpack only added one more kill, and three straight Arkansas points finished out the middle set 25-16 for the Razorbacks. 

The third set began 5-1 for the Hogs, but NC State quickly caught up with a 4-1 run that narrowed the Arkansas lead to 6-5. The Razorbacks answered with four of the next five points, including two kills each from Head and Crumpton for an 11-6 advantage. NC State came within two at 14-12, but didn’t string together any runs and headed to a timeout down 18-14. Back-to-back kills from Head pushed Arkansas over the 20-point mark, and while the Wolfpack added three more points, the Hogs scored three of their own with a kill from Crumpton, an ace from senior Lauren Evans and a kill from Gillen for set and match point at 25-18.

Up Next

Arkansas returns home with a bang as the Razorbacks open SEC play at Barnhill Arena against LSU on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. The Hogs hit the road again that weekend and take on Tennessee in Knoxville on Sept. 25-26 at 5 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

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).