Lady'Back volleyball hosts Arkansas Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas volleyball team opens the 2007 home season hosting the Arkansas Invitational beginning Thursday in Barnhill Arena. Arkansas started the year 3-0 winning the Oklahoma Invitational last weekend. The Lady’Backs face Sacramento State in the lone match Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Tournament action continues Friday at noon when Sacramento State faces Stephen F. Austin. Sacramento State wraps up their tournament appearance facing Southeast Missouri State Friday at 5:00 p.m., followed by the Arkansas/Stephen F. Austin match at 7:00 p.m. The Arkansas Invitational concludes Saturday with a pair of matches. The Lady’Backs host SEMO at 11:00 a.m., followed by a 4:00 p.m., match between SFA and SEMO. "We’re excited to be playing at home this weekend," said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. "It’s great both for us and for the fans. This will be a very good tournament for us. All of these teams have been very successful within their conferences in recent years." The Lady’Backs started the year 3-0 with wins over Idaho, host Oklahoma and North Carolina last weekend. Senior Denitza Koleva paced the Arkansas attach and earned tournament MVP honors for her play. Juniors Ashley Miller and Jessica Dorrell were also named to the all-tournament team with Miller also earning Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors Monday. "I felt that we had a lot of individual potential," said Poole of last week. "But I wasn’t sure we had the maturity. We used three different lineups and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the effort of the team. We’re definitely here to perform when it comes to game time." Sacramento State comes to Fayetteville with a 3-1 record, the best start since 1995. The Hornets limited their opposition to a .120 hitting percentage and averaged 18.21 digs per game. Southeast Missouri State begins tournament play with a 1-3 record after struggling at the Mississippi Tournament last week. Stephen F. Austin is undefeated at 3-0 winning the New Mexico Tournament last weekend. All of Arkansas’ matches this week can be seen on the internet at LADYBACKS.COM free of charge. Thursday and Saturday’s matches air live while Friday’s will be delayed for an approximately 9:00 p.m. start.