Vols Sweep Hogs in Knoxville Friday
In their second to last match of the regular season, the Hogs were overpowered by No. 19 Tennessee as they fell in straight sets to the Vols on Friday (18-25, 15-25, 15-25).
Freshman Parker Duncan led the offensive effort for Arkansas with a team-high 10 kills. She was followed by Romani Thurman with eight and Jada Lawson with six. Freshman Sydney Maue had four kills on the night, but led Arkansas’ hitters with a .231 clip.
Sophomore setter Kiki Remensperger posted her 15th double-double of the season with 17 assists and 11 digs, and she also had an ace.
Graduate middle Zoi Evans added two blocks on the night and is now two shy of cracking the Arkansas program top 10 in career blocks, with 351 so far.
Set 1
Tennessee used two aces in the first five points to build an early lead, while Arkansas struggled to piece together more than one at a time. The Lady Vols hit double digits first, but the Razorbacks found their rhythm a bit after that and trimmed the deficit to as little as three, which included back-to-back kills from Lawson to make it 15-12. The Hogs kept their foot on the gas and quickly came within one at 17-16, which prompted the Vols to call time. The break made all the difference for the home team and Tennessee pushed back and grabbed the momentum through the end of the set, 25-18.
Set 2
A kill from Lawson and then ace from Evans cut the early Vol lead to just 5-4, but Tennessee then rattled off four straight for a 9-5 advantage. Tennessee kept controlling the pace from there and held a 15-8 lead at the media break, and Arkansas never recovered from there. The Vols led 22-12, which sent the Hogs to a huddle, but Tennessee kept on cruising to a 25-15 set victory and went up 2-0 in the match.
Set 3
Arkansas hung in with Tennessee early on and tied it 3-3, but the Lady Vols settled in from there and quickly went up 11-5, at which time the Hogs attempted to stop the bleeding with a timeout. The Razorbacks kept on pushing and got over double digits, but just as soon, the Vols expanded their lead to almost 10 at 22-13, at which point Arkansas called time again. The Razorbacks got two after that from Thurman and Duncan, but they couldn’t cut into the lead enough as Tennessee claimed the third set 25-15 for the sweep.
Up Next
The Hogs close out the regular season on the road at No. 2 Kentucky on Sunday. First serve is at noon and the action will be streamed on SEC Network+.
More Information
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