Lady'Back volleyball begins five-match SEC home stand

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas volleyball team returns to Southeastern Conference action with the SEC home-opener against Georgia Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Barnhill Arena. Arkansas enters the weekend with a 7-3 overall record but the Lady’Backs are out to a disappointing 0-2 start in conference play. The Lady’Backs host the Bulldogs (4-8, 0-2 SEC) Friday followed by South Carolina (9-4, 2-0 SEC) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. "We’re very excited to be at home this week," said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. "We had a tough road trip last week and it’ll be nice to be in front of our fans." Arkansas dropped its SEC opener last Friday at Kentucky then fell in four at No. 13 Tennessee starting the year 0-2. The Lady’Backs hope to regroup this weekend but face a battle in both matches. "Both Georgia and South Carolina are very good teams," said Poole. "It’s going to be a dogfight. There is no doubt that this is as tough as the SEC’s ever been. The league is very strong and very competitive top to bottom this year and we really need to win the home matches. We opened with the toughest road series facing two NCAA Tournament teams last week and we knew it would be a challenge. Now, we have to re-focus and get back on track beginning Friday." Arkansas’ seven early-season wins were hard-fought and the balanced offensively. Seniors Amy Allison, Kele Brewer and Denitza Koleva all stepped up in different matches as did juniors Jessica Dorrell and Ashley Miller. The Lady’Backs are also getting more production out of sophomore Christina Lawrence who had knee surgery the second day of practice in August. "We’ve been banged up a bit early in the season," said Poole, "but I feel like we’re starting to get healthy and come together. We have just about everyone back in practice and our chemistry and timing are continuing to improve. We know that a lot of our early setbacks came on our side of the net and the more we are together in practice, the better we’ll get." Arkansas is beginning it’s longest home stand of the year with five matches in Barnhill. The Lady’Backs follow up this weekend with the Magnolia State hosting Mississippi Sate Sept. 29 and Mississippi Oct. 1. The home stand concludes with No. 13 LSU Wednesday, Oct. 4. For more information about Arkansas volleyball or for tickets please call the Lady Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK or log on to LADYBACKS.COM.