Arkansas Volleyball Fact Sheet #13

Home Sweet HomeThe Lady Razorbacks wrap up the 2007 season hosting a pair of SEC opponents and one non-conference newcomer as the year ends. Arkansas opens with Tennessee on Friday, followed by Kentucky on Sunday — note the 1:00 p.m. start time to accommodate the Wildcats travel schedule. Arkansas wraps up the regular season with non-conference Connecticut Saturday, Nov. 24.Senior Day on SundayArkansas has three seniors whose careers in the Cardinal and White are coming to a close. They are Kelli Cole, Jessica Dorrell and Ashley Miller. Cole, a role player from Russellville, Ark., has seen her playing time increase over her career and now is a regular in the defensive lineup for Arkansas. Dorrell, an Aledo, Texas, native, has started/played nearly every match over her four-year career and is in the top 15 in nearly every statistical career category. Miller, a Vacaville, Calif., libero, holds all of Arkansas’ digs records and the SEC record as well.Miller sets SEC digs recordSenior Ashley Miller set the Southeastern Conference career digs record in a five-game win at Georgia Sunday. Miller entered the season with 1556 career digs and has added 502 digs this year (through 11/12/07) bringing her career total to 2058. The previous mark of 2037 was held by Kentucky’s Jenni Casper (2003-06). Miller earns SEC Defensive Player of the WeekAshley Miller earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors after setting the SEC career digs record Monday. It is the second time in Miller’s career she has earned an SEC weekly honor (2006). In addition, Miller is the only Arkansas libero to earn the league’s defensive player of the week honor. Four middle blockers have earned five honors for the Lady’Backs in previous seasons.Miller owns Arkansas digs recordSenior Ashley Miller holds the Arkansas record for digs with 2058 (through 11-12) and is the only player in school history with more than 2000. In fact, she holds all of Arkansas’ dig records. Miller has the match record with 36 against Ole Miss (10-1-06), single season with 548 (2005), career with 2058 and climbing, career digs per game with 4.36 (through 11-5-07) and was the digs per game leader in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.But where do those numbers rank in the NCAA? The single-match record for digs is 62 (Jessica Strama, McNeese St. vs. Texas-Arlington, Oct. 13, 2006); the single-season record under the current scoring system is 924 (Paula Gentil, Minnesota, 2004 [138 games]); the career record is 2,791 (Paula Gentil, Minnesota, 2002-05 [506 games]; season digs per game is 7.68 (Amanda McCormick, Ball St., 2006 [852 digs in 111 games]) and career 5.80 (Amanda McCormick, Nebraska/Ball St., 2003-04; 05-06 [2,297 digs in 396 games)].Dorrell earns ESPN The Magazine academic honorSenior Jessica Dorrell earned selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team it was recently announced. Dorrell, an outside hitter from Aledo, Texas, becomes the nine Lady Razorback volleyball player to be selected and it is the 11th honor for the program. Dorrell has enjoyed success both on and off the volleyball court. A four-year starter for the Lady Razorbacks, she became the 12th player in program history to tally 1,000 career kills. She has since moved up into the 10th spot and will likely overtake the ninth position this weekend. Dorrell ranks in 11 career statistical categories for the Lady Razorbacks and has posted eight double-doubles this year. A two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, Dorrell was also a member of the 2004 SEC all-freshman team. In the classroom Dorrell was named to the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll as well as the SEC Academic Honor Roll for three seasons. She is a multiple-time member of the Arkansas Women’s Athletics Department academic honor roll earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average in the spring of 2007.More about DorrellThis week (Nov. 13), Dorrell ranks in the top 15 in 11 career categories. The Aledo, Texas, native moved to 10th in kills (1257), 13th in kills per game (2.67), eighth in total attempts (3091), 10th in service aces (78), 10th in service attempts (965), eighth in block assists (389) and total blocks (401), ninth in total points (1541.5), 14th in points per game (3.27), 10th in games played (471) and tied for 10th in matches played (123).Setters move up on career listsArkansas has used two setters to run the offense for several seasons and not since the first four years of the program have the Lady Razorbacks had a setter who set nearly every ball for four seasons (Tina Rico). That being said, reaching statistical milestones as a setter is difficult when you split time. Both of Arkansas current setters, Nicole Martin and Lindsay Scanlan, have surpassed, the 1,000-assist milestone. Although no where near the record of 5,886 assists held by Rico, 1,000 is still a good number. In fact, only seven setters have 1,000 or more assists. Martin slid over 1,000 career assists during the Northern Iowa match and has 1,4367 while Scanlan stands at 1,318.Arkansas in the SEC stats – SEC-Only matchesThe Lady’Backs’ 6-12 mark in the SEC, not surprisingly, finds the team at the bottom of most of the SEC statistics as well. Here’s a look at where Arkansas ranks: 10th for hitting percentage (.183); eighth in opponent hitting percentage (.226); tied for eighth in assists (13.37), ninth in kills (14.46); ninth in service aces (1.11); and 10th in digs (15.91). Arkansas is third overall in blocks with a 2.94 block per game average.Arkansas in the SEC stats – All matchesArkansas’ numbers are a bit better in all matches (conference and non-conference). The Lady’Backs are eighth in hitting percentage (.203); eightth in assists (13.47); ninth in opponent hitting percentage (.221); eighth in kills (14.71); seventh in service aces (1.54) and 11th in digs (15.01). The Lady’Backs are fifth in all-match blocks with a 2.85 block per game average.Freudenrich tops in the SECDespite Arkansas’ win-loss woes, freshman Sarah Freudenrich is making a name for herself. The Broken Arrow, Okla., native ranks third in the SEC (in SEC-only matches) for blocks per game with a 1.47 bpg average. Freudenrich has 12 solos and 91 block assists for 103.0 total blocks this year. Freudenrich is fourth in all matches averaging 1.43 blocks per game with 22 solos and 132 assists for 154.0 total blocks.Dorrell ranks in kills per gameSenior Jessica Dorrell finds herself ranked third this week in kills per game. The Aledo, Texas, native is averaging 4.20 kills per game in all matches. Dorrell ranks third in SEC-only contests with 4.09 kpg this year. Miller ranks in digs per gameSenior Ashley Miller leads Arkansas in digs and ranks sixth in the SEC for digs per game. The Vacaville, Calif., native is averaging 4.86 dpg with 340 digs in SEC only matches. Miller ranks sixth in all matches as well averaging 4.78 dpg with 502 total digs this year.Arkansas is the SEC’s odd team outThe SEC has 11 teams that sponsor volleyball (Vanderbilt does not have a team). Each year there is one team who does not rotate through the conference schedule with a travel partner. This year, that team is Arkansas. As a result, the Lady Razorbacks do not play a mid-week conference match. In fact, Arkansas has only one match this year that does not fall on a weekend and that is a Tuesday match against Oral Roberts Aug. 28. It also means that instead of facing Mississippi and Mississippi State in the same weekend or Alabama and Auburn, the schedule is much more varied – and travel is much more interesting.Another SEC reminderThe SEC eliminated the conference tournament last year instead opting for a double-round robin format in which teams play each other twice during the course of the season. That format continues for the 2007 season.Can I get on the internet please?Every Lady Razorback volleyball match will be carried on the internet in some capacity this year. Every Lady Razorback home match will have live stats, a live audio broadcast and a live video broadcast of the event. Fans can find those at LADYBACKS.COM. All road SEC matches will have audio on LADYBACKS.COM and most will have live stats on either the host site or LADYBACKS.COM. The radio broadcasts for all road SEC matches can also be heard in the Fayetteville area on KXUA, 88.3 FM.