Balanced effort lifts Arkansas to win at Auburn
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AUBURN, Ala. –Five players in double-figure kills led the University of Arkansas volleyball team to a four-game Southeastern Conference win at Auburn Friday.
Arkansas notched a 29-31, 30-23, 30-22, 30-23 win improving to 11-16 overall and 5-12 in SEC play. The Lady Razorbacks continue in SEC action traveling to Georgia Sunday for a 12:30 p.m. central match.
“It certainly was a balanced effort tonight,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. “Everyone contributed and played hard all night. We gave up some runs but had some runs of our own and that was the difference tonight. I’m very proud of the effort and how we are hanging in there. I appreciate the senior leadership and the way the team rallied tonight.”
Senior Jessica Dorrell paced Arkansas with 18 kills and 12 digs while freshman Heather Royal also recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs. Freshman Sarah Freudenrich tallied 12 kills, hit .391 and had six blocks, while junior Christina Lawrence and sophomore Catherine Fowler had 10 kills each. Fowler led the team with seven blocks as the Lady’Backs out-blocked Auburn 13-6.
The win is just the second SEC road win for Arkansas and stops a six-match losing streak for the Lady’Backs.
Arkansas had solid leads in all four games, up by as many as four points in each frame, but Auburn, playing in its final home match of the season, would not go quietly into the night. The Tigers closed the gaps in each of the games stealing the game one win late. Tied at 29 Tiger Rachel Shanks got one of her 12 kills giving Auburn the one-point advantage. The Tigers got a block to end the game with the win.
The Lady Razorbacks did a much better job holding off the Tiger runs in games two, three and four. After the eight-point win in the third game, Arkansas and Auburn played a more evenly matched contest in game four.
The fourth frame was tied at 17 when Arkansas awoke for a 13-6 run to close the game and seal the win. A Tiger hitting error and a kill from Freudenrich gave the Lady’Backs a 19-17 lead and Auburn burned its final timeout trying to slow the Arkansas offense.
The break did nothing to stall the offense as Fowler came alive late with back-to-back kills and a block assist sparking Arkansas as the Lady’Backs sailed to the seven-point win.
The Lady Razorbacks continue SEC play traveling to Georgia Sunday for a 12:30 p.m. match from Athens. The match airs live in the Northwest Arkansas area on KXUA, 88.3 FM and on the internet at LADYBACKS.COM. Arkansas returns home hosting Tennessee and Kentucky in the final SEC weekend of the regular season. Arkansas wraps up the 2007 season Nov. 24 hosting non-conference opponent Connecticut.
For more information about Arkansas’ remaining matches, log on to LADYBACKS.COM or call the Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK.
