Arkansas Volleyball Fact Sheet #14 - LSU and Georgia

LAWRENCE GOING OUT WITH A BANGThe University of Arkansas volleyball team played to a weekend split defeating Mississippi State in five sets and falling at Alabama in four. Senior Christina Lawrence had a career-best 29 kills, hit .444 and had four digs and seven blocks in the win over State. She added a 19-kill, .421, two dig and three block performance against Alabama as the team moved its record to 7-20 overall and 4-13 in the SEC. The Razorbacks conclude the 2008 season hosting LSU Nov. 21, Georgia Nov. 23 and Ole Miss Nov. 29.
SEASON BESTS AT STATEArkansas posted some good numbers against Mississippi State Friday. The Razorbacks tied their season-best with 71 kills, and tied season highs for service aces with nine and team blocks with 12. Arkansas set new season-bests with a .331 hitting percentage and 69 assists in the win.
LAWRENCE REACHES MILESTONEUniversity of Arkansas senior Christina Lawrence reached a career milestone at No. 11 Florida recording her 1,000th-career kill. Lawrence’s career 1000th kill was her second in the first set at No. 11 Florida. She had nine kills at South Carolina and nine against the Gators giving her 1,007 for her career. Lawrence is the 13th player in Razorback volleyball history to reach her 1,000th career kill. Krystal Osborne (1994-98) is the all-time kills leader with 2,185. Lawrence now has 1073 heading into the LSU/Georgia weekend and ranks 13th trailing the No. 12 spot by 58 kills.
OTHERS MOVING UPIn addition to Lawrence, several other Razorbacks continue to climb in the career numbers. Here’s a look: Kelli Stipanovich ranks 12th for kills-per-set with 2.86; Lawrence ranks 15th (2.65) and Heather Royal is 17th (2.51). Lawrence ranks 14th in total attempts (2546), followed by Royal who is 19th (1730). Lawrence ranks sixth for hitting percentage (.283). Caira Daugherty Dortch ranks eighth with 1,123 career assists and is 11th in assists-per-set with 4.10. Lindsay Scanlan is fifth in assists (1843) and sixth in aps (6.31) and Phoebe Bautista is 14th (0.55) Scanlan ranks13th in service aces (72) and is tied for 15th in service-aces-per set (0.25) with Royal (0.25). Stipanovich is 18th (0.21) in SAPS. Bautista ranks fourth in digs-per-set (3.33) followed by Royal who is 11th (2.48). Yun Tang is 19th in block solos (18) and Lawrence is 10th (318) in block assists. Lawrence is 12th (331) in total blocks.
A LOOK AT SOME NUMBERSArkansas’ offense has struggled this year. The Razorbacks’ opponents have had more kills 19 times this year and Arkansas has been out-dug in 22 of the team’s 27 matches. Interestingly, the Razorbacks have out-blocked or had the same number of blocks in 15 matches this year.
ARKANSAS SCORES WHEN?The Razorbacks are 7-20 in set one, 9-18 in set two, 8-19 in set three, 4-6 in set four and 2-3 in the fifth set. Arkansas is 4-13 in three sets, 0-3 in four and 2-3 in five set matches this year.
SHOW ME THE POINTSThe Razorbacks have been out-scored in all five sets this year. Arkansas has been out-scored 562-641 in set one, 572-646 in set two, 524-638 in set three, 216-237 in set four and outscored its opponents 75-71 in the fifth set for a 1949-2233 total.
A SEASON OF BESTSSenior Christina Lawrence has led the Razorbacks all year and she holds most of the season individual “bests.” Here’s a quick look: Hitting percentage .500 (15-3-24) at LSUKills 22 vs. Auburn Kills by set 3: 15 at LSU; 4: 17 at Tennessee; 5: 22 vs. AuburnPoints 25.0 vs. Auburn Points by set 3: 17.0 at LSU; 4: 18.5 at Tennessee; 5: 25.0 vs. Auburn
ABOUT LSUAfter falling behind two sets to one the LSU volleyball team came back to win the final two sets to beat Auburn, 23-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-18, 15-6, on Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Senior Kyna Washington tallied the 34th double-double of her career as she put away 14 kills and recorded 13 digs in front of a crowd of 670 on Senior Night. As a team LSU (15-9, 10-7 SEC) had more kills (63-50), assists (57-47) and team blocks (10.0-3.0) than Auburn, but Auburn recorded more digs, 85-77, than LSU. Brittnee Cooper leads the team hitting .335 with 256 kills and 2.84 kps. She also leads the team in blocking with 109 total blocks and 1.21 bps. Teammate Kyna Washington ranks first with 263 kills and a team-best 2.92 kps this year.
ARKANSAS VERSUS THE TIGERSArkansas is 22-9 lifetime against LSU but the Razorbacks have lost the last six meetings to the Tigers..
ABOUT THAT FIRST MEETINGLSU defeated Arkansas in Baton Rouge, Oct. 5, of this year. The Razorbacks hit a solid .269 with 42 kills behind a 15-kill performance from senior Christina Lawrence. LSU, however, bested Arkansas hitting .410 with two players, Tania Schatow and Brittnee Cooper in double-digits. The Tigers out-blocked (7-6) and out-dug (48-39) Arkansas in the match.
ABOUT GEORGIAThe Bulldogs (16-12, 9-8 Southeastern Conference) have three matches remaining on their 2008 regular season schedule, all against SEC Western Division schools. This weekend, Georgia will first travel to Oxford, Miss., to face the Ole Miss Rebels (12-14, 8-9 SEC) on Friday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET at the Gillom Sports Center. Next, on Sunday, Nov. 23, the Bulldogs will be in Fayetteville, Ark., to face the Arkansas Razorbacks (7-20, 4-13 SEC) at 2:30 p.m. ET in Barnhill Arena. In the first meeting earlier this season with Ole Miss, the Rebels defeated the Bulldogs 3-0 (25-21, 25-23 and 25-26) in Athens. It marked Ole Miss’ second-consecutive win in the series, but Georgia has won six of the last 10 and leads the all-time series 35-9. In the first meeting of the year with Arkansas, the Bulldogs defeated the Razorbacks 3-0 (25-22, 25-15 and 25-23) at the Ramsey Center. That win snapped a five-match winning streak in the series by the Razorbacks, but Arkansas still holds a 13-5 all-time series advantage.
ARKANSAS VERSUS THE BULLDOGSThe Razorbacks hold a 13-5 series advantage over Georgia all-time. The Bulldogs’ win in Athens snapped a five-match Arkansas win streak that dated back to Oct. 15, 2004.
ABOUT THAT FIRST MEETINGGeorgia defeated Arkansas in three sets in Athens earlier this year. The Razorbacks hit .330 with 37 kills in the loss. Kelli Stipanovich paced the team with 11 kills and a .455 hitting performance while Christina Lawrence added 10 kills and hit .364. The Bulldogs, however, out-hit Arkansas, .440-.330, with more kills (54-37) and digs (44-25) in that match. Georgia also had two players with double-digit kills led by Lindsay Gehan who had 15 kills and hit .591 for the Bulldogs.
RAZORBACKS ON THE RADIOThe Arkansas Razorback volleyball team returned to the KXUA airways this season for their single match at Auburn. The Razorbacks went live at 6 p.m. Central from Auburn, Ala. KXUA is 88.3 FM on the dial in Northwest Arkansas. The broadcast also aired live on ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Jeri Thorpe provides the play-by-play along with Stephen McGowan for your color analysis. Here is the complete KXUA broadcast schedule for 2008:DATE OPPONENT TIME RESULTSept. 19 at Auburn 6 p.m. W, 3-2Oct. 10 Alabama 7 p.m. L, 1-3Oct. 12 Mississippi State 1:30 p.m. W, 3-0Oct. 17 at Kentucky 6 p.m. L, 0-3Oct. 19 at Tennessee 12:30 p.m. L, 1-3Nov. 7 Tennessee 7 p.m. L, 0-3Nov. 9 Kentucky 1:30 p.m. L. 0-3Nov. 14 at Mississippi State 7 p.m. W, 3-2Nov. 16 at Alabama 1:30 p.m. L, 1-3Nov. 21 LSU 7 p.m. Nov. 23 Ole Miss 7 p.m.All Postseason matches
UP NEXTArkansas wraps up the regular season hosting LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss.