Allison and the big block can't lift Arkansas

Jump to Florida box FAYETTEVILLE –A valiant effort behind a career night from senior Amy Allison and the University of Arkansas volleyball team wasn’t enough to lift the Lady Razorbacks over No. 7 Florida in Barnhill Arena Sunday. The 24-30, 26-30, 30-28, 16-30 loss drops Arkansas to 15-9 overall and evens the Lady’Backs’ SEC record to 8-8 while the Gators improve to 22-2 overall and 15-1 in league play. Allison tallied a career-best 17 kills and hit .400 with six blocks in the four-game match. Senior Denitza Koleva added 17 kills and 16 digs wile sophomore Christina Lawrence led the team with seven blocks as the Lady’Backs out-blocked Florida 12.5 to 8.0. “I thought we battled well in the first three games,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. “The first three games are definitely something to build on – we did some nice things.” The match provided all the drama fans expected when they saw the match-up on the schedule in August. The third game was the most exciting for Arkansas fans as the Lady’Backs fought tooth-and-nail for the 30-28 win. Lawrence spurred the late-game run both offensively and defensively for Arkansas. With Florida up 21-20, Lawrence got back-to-back kills and teamed with Allison on a block giving Arkansas the lead and forcing a Gator timeout. The Gators got a block out of the timeout and closed within two, 24-22, by Brewer and Koleva tallied a pair of kills as Arkansas again pulled ahead. After exchanging a couple points, Florida got back-to-back slams from Amber McCray and Poole took a timeout leading 27-25. Florida controlled the tempo out of the break but committed consecutive hitting errors as Arkansas edged closer to the win. Brewer put down the final ball after a long rally giving Arkansas the game three win. “We have four matches left and we still need two or three wins to get into the NCAA Tournament,” said Poole. “We have some work to do in these next couple weeks.” Arkansas continues SEC action with a mid-week tilt at No. 11 LSU Wednesday. The match airs live in the Northwest Arkansas area on KXUA, 88.3 FM and on the internet at LADYBACKS.COM.