@RazorbackVB Begins Thanksgiving Trip Wednesday at Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team begins its Thanksgiving road trip Wednesday evening against Tennessee. The SEC match is slated for a 5 p.m. (CT) start at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville and will be televised on the SEC Network. The Razorbacks’ road trip and regular season will conclude Saturday in Lexington against No. 15 Kentucky.

Wednesday’s match will be Arkansas’ seventh television appearance on the SEC Network this season. Adam Amin and Maria Taylor will handle the play-by-play and color commentary duties, respectively. The match will also be available to fans through the WatchESPN app.

Arkansas and Tennessee will be meeting for the 35th time with the all-time series tied at 17-17 heading into Wednesday’s match. The Razorbacks have won three of the last four matches against Tennessee including a straight-set win earlier this season in Fayetteville to open SEC play. Paced by 24 kills from senior Meredith Hays, the Razorbacks posted a .339 hitting percentage in that match for their first win over UT in Fayetteville since the 2006 season.

Hays enters the final two matches of the regular season with 486 kills, just 14 shy of becoming the eighth player in program history to tally 500 kills in a single season. She would be the first Razorback to do so since the 2007 season. With her second kill Nov. 19 against Texas A&M, Hays became the 16th player in program history with 900 career kills and currently has 927 kills in her two years at Arkansas.

Junior Chanell Clark-Bibbs continues to rank as the only player during SEC play in the top 10 of five statistical categories. She is eighth in points per set (3.79), kills per set (3.03) and blocks per set (0.97), ninth in hitting percentage (.372) and 10th in aces per set (0.26). Clark-Bibbs has at least 10 kills in eight of the last 11 matches.

With her eighth assist Sunday against No. 6 Florida, freshman Bailee Hankenson became the sixth Razorback setter to record 1,000 assists in a single season. She is the second freshman, along with program assists leader Tina Rico, to hit the milestone mark. Fellow freshman Kori Ortiz made her first career start at libero against the Gators and responded with a season-high 16 digs to lead all players.

For more information on Arkansas volleyball, follow @RazorbackVB on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.