Tigers Take Down Hogs in Four Sets

Arkansas volleyball couldn’t come away with its first road win of the season Wednesday and also fell to the Auburn Tigers for the first time since 2018, in four sets (13-25, 21-25, 25-21, 19-25).

Freshman Parker Duncan led the offensive effort for Arkansas with 15 kills and had just four errors on 46 attempts for a .239 hitting percentage. Lakin Laurendine also tallied double digits with 10 kills against her former team, and Romani Thurman had 10 kills and only two errors for a .320 hitting clip.

The Razorbacks’ middles continued to make a big impact on both sides of the ball. Freshman Journey Peppers chipped in eight kills and had a team-high three blocks, two solo. Zoi Evans had six kills with no errors on 11 swings for a .545 hitting percentage and also contributed two blocks.

Sophomore setter Kiki Remensperger dialed up another double-double, her 12th of the season. She tallied 41 assists and 17 digs in the match, the latter matching her season high.

Arkansas is now 5-15 on the season, 1-8 in the SEC.

Set 1

After the Hogs got a brief 2-1 lead, the Tigers limited Arkansas’ chances from there and used a 4-0 run to go up 11-6. The Razorbacks struggled to get anything going offensively and after a challenge ended up going the way of the Tigers, Auburn used it as momentum and rattled off a 4-1 run to go over 20 points. There was nothing the Hogs could do from there, and another five unanswered Tiger points easily paved them to a 25-13 set victory and 1-0 advantage in the match.

Set 2

The second set was back-and-forth to the midway point, and Arkansas went on a 3-0 run with two kills from Duncan and one from Laurendine to tie it at 9-all. There were two more ties after that until the Hogs went up 17-15 off a kill from Peppers, but Auburn stayed hot on their heels and took the lead at 20-19. The teams traded points, but the Tigers locked in and a 4-0 run gave the second set to them, 25-21.

Set 3

In a must win set, Arkansas maintained a narrow lead early on. The Hogs then put together a 4-1 run, capped off with an ace by Remensperger, and went up 10-7. Arkansas limited Auburn to two points at a time, and the Razorbacks used another big service run by Remensperger that featured three Duncan kills to extend the lead to 21-14. The Tigers continued to chip away and a 4-0 run put them within three, but Arkansas went the distance and a final kill from Peppers made it 25-21, forcing a fourth set.

Set 4

Arkansas came out with the momentum in the fourth, but it didn’t take long for Auburn to flip the script. The Tigers went on a 4-0 run that put them up 12-7, at which time Arkansas took a timeout.  The Hogs kept pushing and closed the gap to three with a 4-0 run at 16-13, but Auburn had no trouble making it a five-point advantage again at 19-14. The Razorbacks weren’t going quietly and came within four at 23-19, but two more Tiger kills made the comeback attempt impossible as Auburn took the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.

Up Next

Arkansas hosts the Florida Gators on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 12 p.m. The match will be a red out and will be televised live on ESPN.

More Information

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