Arkansas wins in three at Georgia

Jump to Georgiabox score ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Arkansas won its fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference volleyball match with a 3-0 thumping of Georgia Sunday. Arkansas improved to 14-8 overall and evened its SEC record to 7-7 with the 30-23, 30-25, 30-26 win over Georgia (6-18, 2-12 SEC). “It’s great to get the win on the road,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. “I was disappointed in a couple of little let downs but any time you can get a road win, just take it and go home.” Senior Amy Allison hit .800 for the match with 13 kills, one error and 15 attempts. She added three blocks to lead Arkansas. Sophomore Christina Lawrence hit .714 with 10 kills, five digs and two blocks, while redshirt freshman Destiny Clark hit .533 with 10 kills and two blocks. Senior Denitza Koleva’s string of 10 consecutive double-doubles came to an end with 12 kills and three digs in a solid performance. Arkansas out-hit Georgia .437 to .280 and tallied 7.5 team blocks allowing the Bulldogs just three. Arkansas was slow to start in the first game but rallied with a 7-1 run behind aggressive serving from freshman Lindsay Scanlan quickly making up the difference. The Lady’Backs pulled away at the 20-point mark despite a pair of Georgia timeouts as the Bulldogs tried to slow down Arkansas’ offense. The Lady’Backs finished the game out-hitting Georgia .306 to .073 and out-blocking the Bulldogs 5.5 to 1.0 in the frame. Georgia started game two with a more efficient attack and Arkansas was a bit flat allowing the Bulldogs to take and keep an early lead. Poole called his first timeout with Georgia leading 15-11 looking to refocus the Lady’Backs and eliminate the unforced Arkansas errors. “I told them to take advantage of what Georgia was giving us and to clean up the play on our side of the net,” said Poole. “We were helping Georgia score points with our own unforced errors.” Arkansas scratched its way back into the game getting a big block from Lawrence and Allison followed by an off-speed deep kill from Allison to tie the game at 17. Georgia maintained much of the momentum and played Arkansas point-for-point through the next 10 points. Poole burned his final timeout with the teams tied at 22-all. Arkansas broke early from the huddle and followed up with a rocket off the arm of Lawrence to take the lead. Lawrence’s shot was a demoralizing smash that split the Bulldog defense and rattled the home team’s confidence. Arkansas sprinted to the win with an 8-3 run taking a two-game lead into the locker room at the break. Arkansas hit .472 with 21 kills in the second game while Georgia was significantly better with a .455 performance. “I don’t think we were sharp in the second game but I’m pleased with our confidence and ability to finish the game,” said Poole. “We can’t let teams stay close with us especially when we’re committing so many unforced errors but I’m very happy with character of this team to pull together at the end of the game and get the win.” Allison was hitting .900 at the end of the second game with nine kills, no errors and 10 attempts. She also had three blocks through the first two stanzas. Poole’s between game talk must have been inspiring as the Lady’Backs came out strong to start the third frame with a 9-4 run. Georgia settled down and climbed back into the game and although the Lady’Backs lead dwindled to just two points the Bulldogs never really threatened to overtake Arkansas. The Lady Razorbacks continue SEC action next weekend hosting No. 8 Florida and Auburn Friday and Sunday, respectively. Tickets are available by calling the Lady Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK or by logging on to LADYBACKS.COM.