No. 24 LSU hands Arkansas four-game loss

Jump to LSU box FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas volleyball team tallied 10 team blocks and had four players in double-figure kills but couldn’t overcome the hard-hitting offense of the 24th-ranked LSU Tigers in Southeastern Conference action in Barnhill Arena Sunday. Arkansas (6-6, 0-2 SEC) won the first game, 30-24, but dropped the next three 29-31, 33-35, 24-30 to the Tigers (10-1, 2-0 SEC) despite leading in the frames. “We are giving up big runs and you just can’t do that against good teams,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. “We played a little better today but we have to step up and get past the youth and the injuries and except the challenge.” Senior Jessica Dorrell paced Arkansas with a team-best 16 kills while junior Christina Lawrence added 11 and hit a team-high .308 for the match. Freshman Heather Royal and sophomore Kristin Seaton each added 10 kills for Arkansas while freshman Sarah Freudenrich tallied seven blocks in the loss. Arkansas found itself in a back-and-forth battle in the first game with seven ties and one lead change before eking out the win. The games was tied at 10 when Arkansas took the lead on and LSU attack error. They would not trail again winning with just 12 kills and a .158 hitting percentage. The Lady’Backs out-hit LSU in game two, .293-.288, and led by as many as five but allowed LSU to get on a run at the mid-point of the game. The Tigers grabbed the lead late in the frame after Arkansas tied the game at 29 going on to the win. The same was true in the third game with the frame tied at 30, 21, 32 and 33 but the Lady’Backs committed an attack error and allowed an LSU service ace to lose the game. Arkansas struggled in the final frame hitting just .023 with 11 kills and no blocks. Despite the numbers, the game was tied 11 times and had five lead changes before LSU came out with the win. “We worked hard enough to win,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole, “but we gave away too many mini runs.” The Lady Razorbacks regroup for back-to-back road weekends beginning with a trip to Mississippi State and Alabama next weekend. For more information about Arkansas volleyball, please log on to LADYBACKS.COM.