Lady'Backs split a pair of West coach matches

Jump to UNLV box score|| Jump to San Diego box score SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Senior Karla Crose and sophomore Jessica Dorrell both played well for the University of Arkansas in a pair of non-conference road matches at the San Diego Tournament in San Diego, Calif., Friday. Crose paced the Lady’Backs (7-3 overall) hitting .485 with 19 kills, eight digs and 11 blocks while Dorrell added 12 kills, hit .276 and had five blocks as Arkansas split a pair of matches Friday. The Lady’Backs won the opener downing UNLV in three, 30-25, 30-26, 31-29, but fell to 18th-ranked San Diego in four, 26-30, 30-26, 28-30, 27-30. “It was great to get the win over UNLV,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole, “but we missed several opportunities against San Diego that cost us the match.” Arkansas outhit UNLV .195-.184 in the opener paced by 10 kills and a .562 hitting percentage from Crose. Junior Denitza Koleva added a team-best 11 kills for Arkansas in the opening win as Arkansas controlled the tempo of the game from the first serve. The Lady’Backs faced a bit of a challenge early in the match after an injury to senior setter Iva Docekalova held her out of the lineup for the contest. Arkansas continued to run the 6-2 offense moving freshman Caira Daugherty from a defensive specialist into the second setter position along with sophomore Nicole Martin. The shake up in the starting lineup took a bit of adjustment but the Lady’Backs quickly made the transition and settled into a rhythm getting the win. The second match was more of a battle for the Lady’Backs who fought a hard-hitting left-handed attack from San Diego’s Kristen Carlson who finished with a match-best 24 kills and hit .529 in a nearly unstoppable offensive attack. The Lady’Backs again manipulated the lineup in the match returning Docekalova and using Fort Smith, Ark., native Kristen Seaton in an attempt to notch a win. Arkansas outhit the Toreros in the first game, .276 to .229 but couldn’t eek out the win. The Lady’Backs reversed their fortunes in the second game elevated their hitting percentage to .500 with 16 kills while San Diego hit “just” .421 in the frame. The Lady’Backs again had chances in the third game. Despite trailing by as many as eight early in the frame, the Lady’Backs didn’t quit chipping away at the lead and coming within one point, 28-27. Poole took a timeout and an Arkansas hitting error prompted him to burn the second one quickly but San Diego went on for the win. Arkansas trailed early in the fourth frame and was down by as many as six but scratched its way back giving the Toreros a scare with a mini-run that saw the home team lead dwindle to just one, 27-26. San Diego went to their go-to in Carlson and put the match away. The Lady Razorbacks return to the court at noon Pacific, 2:00 p.m. Central, Saturday taking on No. 25 Long Beach State in the final match of the weekend for the Lady’Backs. Arkansas returns home hosting the Southeastern Conference opener Friday, Sept. 23.