Volleyball Set for Thursday-Friday Series in Athens

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team is prepping for its first road trip of the spring season this week heading to Athens, Ga. for a two-match series beginning on Thursday (Feb. 4) at 6 p.m. CT.

The Razorbacks dropped their weekend finale to No. 4 Kentucky, 3-0 last Saturday afternoon (25-15, 25-24, 26-24) while the Bulldogs will be playing their first spring series this weekend when the Hogs come to town.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity in the third set by playing simple and clean,” head volleyball coach Jason Watson said about his team’s late efforts against the Wildcats. “That’s key for us – the need to be simple and clean longer. Kentucky is playing volleyball at a high level and will make you pay if you aren’t clean.”

Georgia concluded the fall portion of the 2020-21 schedule with a 4-4 record, splitting all four series against its first conference opponents. After the fall season, the Bulldogs ranked fourth in the league with 2.39 blocks per set. In eight fall matches, Georgia recorded 10+ blocks three times, freshman Phoebe Awoleye notched 36 total blocks in the fall, 1.24 per set. That average came in at fifth-best in the conference.

Arkansas will be looking to improve upon its offensive effectiveness headed into its weekend in Athens, after averaging a .093 attack percentage against Kentucky. “Our offense was reflective of how well we passed,” said Watson. “I really felt we passed well enough to run a much more effective offense than we accomplished over the weekend. That will be a big part of our preparation for the series in Georgia.”

Arkansas boasts a 25-12 all-time series lead over Georgia, and despite dropping the last two meetings, the Hogs have won seven of the last 10 match-ups between the two programs.

Thursday night’s match inside Stegeman Coliseum will be available to fans on SEC Network+. Friday’s match is slated for a 7:30 p.m. start time and will air live on the SEC Network.

Thursday | 6:00 PM | SECN+ | Live Scoring

Friday | 7:30 PM | SEC Network | Live Scoring

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