Lady'Back volleyball faces tough road test

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas volleyball team returns to the road for Southeastern Conference action traveling to No. 8 Florida Friday and Auburn Sunday. The Lady Razorbacks enter the weekend with a10-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark in SEC play needing a couple wins. The face eighth-ranked Florida Friday at 7:00 p.m. central in a match that can be seen live on Sun Sports/FSN and heard live in the Northwest Arkansas area on KXUA, 88.3 FM. "We’ve got a tough weekend coming up," said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. "We face a huge challenge going back on the road for some big matches. We’re trying to do our best to regroup and pick up a couple wins." Arkansas has dropped three consecutive matches in a much-improved SEC. They face the highest-ranked league team in Florida (14-2, 7-1 SEC) followed by a very good Auburn (11-8, 3-5) team who is playing well at home. Arkansas has a solid senior corps leading the team in Amy Allison, Kele Brewer and Denitza Koleva. Brewer has battled a foot injury for the entire season but her numbers have improved in recent matches. Allison, along with redshirt freshman Destiny Clark, suffered flu-like symptoms this week and is listed as a match-time decision. Clark will likely play. "We’re working on a different lineup in practice again today," Poole said on Tuesday. "We’re going to move some people around, maybe even put people in a completely new position. That kind of thing is tough on the team. They all want to be out on the court playing but we’re going to need some people to really step up this weekend." This weekend’s matches represent the turning point of the season with everyone having played each other once. Arkansas returns home hosting No. 18 Tennessee and Kentucky Oct. 20 and 22, respectively, as they meet their SEC opponents for the second time this year. The Tennessee/Kentucky weekend is Arkansas Open MRI Cup Day with fans receiving a free cup and drink coupon. For more information about Arkansas volleyball, log on to LADYBACKS.COM.