Late rally can't lift Razorback Volleyball

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team fell just short dropping a Southeastern Conference match at Tennessee Sunday. The four-set, 21-25, 18-25, 25-17, 21-25 loss, drops the Razorbacks to 5-14 overall and 2-7 in the SEC while Tennessee improves to 13-8 overall and 6-4 in the league. Despite the loss, Arkansas made some significant strides especially late in the match. Razorback senior Christina Lawrence paced the team with 17 kills and hit .406 while freshman Kelli Stipanovich recorded 12 kills. Senior Yun Tang tallied seven kills, hit .313 and led the team with six blocks while junior Kristin Seaton entered the match late and finished with six kills and a .300 hitting percentage. “We played our best volleyball of the season in set three today,” said Arkansas head coach Robert Pulliza. “We also played great in set four but it didn’t go our way. “It was exciting to see Kristin come in and give us a spark today,” Pulliza continued. “She did a great job defensively at the net with her block and obviously her offense was key.” Arkansas struggled in the first two frames committing 11 hitting errors, four service errors and a couple of blocking errors. The mistakes occurred at costly times down the stretch as Tennessee was able to pull away for the wins. Seaton entered the match late in the second set and sparked a Razorback rally that carried over into the third set win. “There is no doubt that her energy in the match sparked our comeback,” said Pulliza. “She really played well when we needed her and I’m pleased with her efforts.” The brightest spot for the Razorbacks was the set three win. Arkansas hit .292 with nine kills while holding Tennessee to a .100 hitting percentage. The frame began with a 6-1 run by the Razorbacks as Arkansas opened with a block off the hands of Lawrence and sophomore Hillary McCormick. A couple of Tennessee hitting errors added to kills from Stipanovich and Seaton as the Razorbacks stormed out of the gates. Arkansas expanded the lead to six, 12-6 and stretched it to eight, 20-12, as Tennessee burned a timeout. The stoppage was not enough to slow the Arkansas attack, however, as the Razorbacks cruised to the win. The Razorbacks maintained some of that momentum to start the fourth set and it would prove to be a battle until the final point. The set had seven tied scores and three lead changes with Arkansas trailing buy just one point, 21-20, as Pulliza burned his final timeout. Tennessee got a pair of kills out of the break that took the wind out of Arkansas’ sails. Lawrence was able to tally a final kill but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Vols notched the win. The Razorbacks return to the “friendly confines” of Barnhill Arena for a single match Sunday, Oct. 26, hosting Auburn at 1:30 p.m.