Lady'Backs conclude spring season

The University of Arkansas completed a successful spring season of matches including a pair of home tournaments in April. While the team continues to train and work out individually, head coach Chris Poole is confident progress was made in the off-season training. Arkansas opened the spring in a tournament in Texas facing Abilene Christian, Texas Christian, Rice and Oklahoma. The Lady’Backs defeated ACU, and split with the other teams in an amended format for matches. (Two games each to 30 points.) Jessica Dorrell had a solid weekend hitting .380 with 5.5 total blocks while Christina Lawrence, who redshirted last year, hit .239 in her first collegiate action. One of the team’s two seniors next year, Iva Docekalova, paced the team with 23 digs including 10 against Rice while Ashley Miller tallied 21 for the weekend. Arkansas next traveled to SMS facing Tulsa, Oklahoma, SMS and the SMS Alumni. The Lady’Backs defeated the Alumni team, 2-0, and again split with the other teams, 1-1. Denitza Koleva paced Arkansas hitting .353 against the Bears and senior Karla Crose hit .385 for the weekend. Amy Allison added a .571 hitting performance against Tulsa while Dorrell hit .571 against the Sooners. Defensively, Miller lead the team with 27 digs while freshman Kellie Cole added 24 over the four-match weekend. Cole had what would be a career-best 13 against Tulsa while Miller posted a weekend best 11 against OU. Arkansas concluded the spring with a pair of home tournaments. The first featured Oral Roberts, and the Arkansas Alumni team and the final event welcomed Southwest Missouri, Memphis, Kansas State and the Alumni team. The Arkansas middles played well against ORU paced by Crose who hit .250 and Allison hitting .400. Miller again lead the team with 14 digs while Crose added 3.5 blocks against the Golden Eagles. Arkansas defeated the Alumni team behind Brewer’s .357 hitting performance. Dorrell hit .353 as well. Although no statistics were kept in the final weekend of play, Arkansas concluded the season on a high note with a win over Memphis. The Lady Razorbacks continue individual spring workouts with the 2005 season set to begin in August.