Arkansas Volleyball Fact Sheet #1 - TCU Invitational
Did You Know?
—Freshman Cassie Clarke’s brother, Rotnei, plays basketball for Arkansas.
—The Razorbacks has three Arkansan’s on the roster…senior Kristin Seaton (Ft. Smith), Cassie Clake (Fayetteville), Katelyn McCarthy (Bentonville)
—Puerto Rico connection….Arkansas’ head coach Robert Pulliza is from Puerto Rico as is current player Janeliss Torres-Lopez (Salinas). Denise Baez (Guaynabo) and Yarleen Santiago (Arecibo) were also from Puerto Rico.
—Arkansas faces Loyola Marymount, Grambling State, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and Jacksonville State for the first time in program history this year.
AUTOGRAPH SESSION AT THE MALL
The Razorback volleyball team enjoyed time at the Northwest Arkansas Mall Center Court Sunday, Aug. 23, from 1-2 p.m., singing autographs. The Razorbacks were joined by the soccer team as well as Big Red and members of the spirit squad.
WHERE ARE ALL THE JUNIORS
The Razorbacks do not technically have a junior on this year’s team. Both Phoebe Bautista and Mackenzie Rhea are juniors academically but both have sat out a redshirt season. They are listed as sophomores on the 2009 roster.
A LOT OF NEW FACES
The 2009 team has one of the largest freshmen classes in program history. The Razorbacks also had eight newcomers for the 1994 season — the first season of volleyball at Arkansas.
ARKANSAS IN OPENERS
The 2009 is the 16th season for volleyball at the University of Arkansas. Since that time, the Razorbacks are 10-5 in the season opener. Arkansas is 3-2 when the first match of the season is at home and 7-3 in road or neutral matches.
AGAINST THE CONFERENCE
Arkansas opens the year with TCU, a member of Conference USA. The Razorbacks are 14-5 all-time against that conference.
PULLIZA’S FIRST CLASS RANKED
Robert Pulliza and his staff have assembled a nationally-ranked recruiting class, PrepVolleyball.com announced this summer. Pulliza’s first recruiting class with the Razorbacks is ranked in the top 45 in the country by PrepVolleyball.com, the premier club and high school volleyball source in the country.
The 2009 recruiting class evaluated in the ranking includes Amanda Anderson, Cassie Clarke, Kendall Cleveland, Katelyn McCarthy and Jasmine Norton for the 2009 season.
Anderson is a 6-2 middle from Colleyville, Texas. Cleveland is a 5-11 outside hitter from Houston, Texas, and Norton is a 5-9 outside hitter from Rowlett, Texas. Both Clarke (Fayetteville) and McCarthy (Bentonville) are Arkansas natives.
Janeliss Torres-Lopez is not included in the rankings because she is considered an international player and Allison Johnson does not qualify for the rankings because she is a transfer. PrepVolleyball.com ranked the top 30 recruiting classes of 2009 and followed up with Highest Honorable Mention and Honorable Mention. The selection process is conducted by a panel of college coaches from several levels of volleyball. College transfers and international student-athletes usually did not factor into the selection unless she had significant playing time in the United States.
THE HOME OPENER
Arkansas opens the home season with a Tuesday night match against Texas-Arlington in Barnhill Arena Sept. 1. The Razorbacks are 12-3 all-time in the home openers. The Razorbacks won their first 10 consecutive home openers in program history before falling in 2004 to Kansas. Arkansas also lost its home openers in 2007 and 2008.
Download: 09vbFactSheet Preseason.pdf
