Norton's 11 kills leads Arkansas

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BLACKSBURG, Va. – Freshman Jasmine Norton led all hitters with 11 kills helping the University of Arkansas Razorbacks to a three-set win over East Carolina at the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday morning.

The Razorbacks (4-2) have won four in a row with the 27-25, 25-15, 25-17 win over the Pirates (1-4). Norton had 11 kills and sophomore Kelli Stipanovich added nine. Freshman Amanda Anderson tallied eight kills and hit .571 with no errors matched by freshman Janeliss Torres-Lopez with six kills and no errors hitting 1.000.

Arkansas out-hit the Pirates, .294-.123, and was better in nearly every statistical category.

The match-up between Arkansas and ECU was a good one. Both teams are physical and have good size but the Razorbacks had the advantage defensively with athletic digs from sophomore Phoebe Bautista as well as several other players.

Bautista finished the match with a contest-high 15 digs while freshman Katelyn McCarthy added seven for Arkansas.

The first set was close with Arkansas needing extra time to win it. Anderson gave Arkansas a 25-24 lead with a kill on an ECU overpass.

The Pirates got a break on an Arkansas service error that tied the frame at 25. But ECU gave the ball right back with a service error of their own. Arkansas scored the final point on a block from Torres-Lopez and setter Lindsay Scanlan.

The second set was close through the first couple of points but a tip from Stipanovich and a board-splitting kill from Norton shut down the Pirates. Arkansas bolted out to a big lead and ECU was unable to recover dropping the next two sets.

The Razorbacks take on the host Virgina Tech Hokies at 6 p.m. central as tournament play continues.