Razorback Roundup -- Nov. 2

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPNov. 2, 2009BASEBALL: Arkansas begins its 2010 season with a three-game series against Ball State at Baum Stadium Feb. 19-21. The Razorbacks play their first seven games at home.MEN’S BASKETBALL: The Razorbacks hold two exhibition contests this week with the first taking place on Monday in Bud Walton Arena against Dillard at 7 p.m. The Hogs return to the court on Thursday to play Lemoyne-Owen, also at 7 p.m. The Razorbacks have held practices for two weeks and head coach John Pelphrey is happy with the progress the team has made. Last Saturday as a part of Arkansas’ Homecoming activities, Pelphrey opened his practice to the public in the afternoon and saw several hundred fans turn out to watch the team. Following the session, the Razorbacks and Pelphrey went into the stands to greet the fans and sign autographs.WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: The Razorbacks had a busy week of practice in preparation for their only exhibition game, Wednesday against Northeastern State University in Bud Walton at 7 p.m. The Razorbacks were recently picked seventh in the SEC media poll and ninth in the coaches poll with sophomore guard C’eira Ricketts predicted to earn a spot on the All-SEC team. MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: No. 28 Arkansas earned a runner-up finish in the team race behind No. 6 Alabama at the 2009 SEC Cross Country Championship Saturday at Ole Miss. The Razorbacks scored 61 points behind the Crimson Tide’s 56. No. 24 Auburn was third with 86 points. Led by Dorian Ulrey’s runner-up finish in the individual race, the Razorbacks finished three runners in the top nine, five in the top 23 and all nine in the top 66. Ulrey, in his SEC cross country debut, earned a runner-up finish with his 8,000-meter time of 24:33.30. Running his first 8K in a UA uniform, he earned first-team All-SEC honors and was the top newcomer in the race. Junior Lane Boyer earned his second All-SEC honor with his eighth-place finish (24:59.83). Freshman Solomon Haile, making his SEC cross country debut, was Arkansas’ third runner. He picked up a ninth-place finish (25:01.12). He was the top freshman finisher, earned SEC All-Freshman honors and was named second-team All-SEC. UA competes next at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships Nov. 14 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY: No. 29 Arkansas earned a bronze finish in the team race at the 2009 SEC Cross Country Championship Saturday at Ole Miss. Paced by junior Miranda Walker’s 10th-place finish, Arkansas finished three in the top 16, five scorers in the top 26 and all seven finishers in the top 82. Walker was Arkansas’ top finisher in 10th place. Her time of 21:41.07 earned her second-team All-SEC honors. She has led the Razorbacks in all five meets this season. Freshman Alyssa Allison, in her SEC cross country debut, was Arkansas’ second finisher. She was 15th with her 6,000-meter time of 22:01.69. She was named to the SEC All-Freshman team as the second freshman finisher overall and was one spot away from earning second-team All-SEC honors. The Razorbacks compete next at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships Nov. 14 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.FOOTBALL (4-4, 1-4): Arkansas plays the second of three-straight games at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium as UA takes on South Carolina on Saturday. Arkansas and South Carolina will meet for the 18th time and the Razorbacks hold a 10-7 edge in the previous 17 meetings. The game features the top two passing offenses in the SEC. UA leads the league (295.8) while USC is ranked second (237.0).MEN’S GOLF: Arkansas concluded its fall season with the Baylor Intercollegiate in Dallas, Texas, finishing sixth in the 12-team tournament. The Razorbacks struggled in the opening round but improved by 13 strokes in round two and dropped their score again in round three. David Lingmerth led the Arkansas charge with a four-under par 209 to finish tied for second overall. Freshman Josh Eure was the Hogs’ second finisher at tied for 36th. The Razorbacks are off until Feb. 14-16 when they compete at the Battle at the Beach.WOMEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks wrapped up a successful fall season with a fifth-place finish at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown last week. It was the final of four events, leading the Razorbacks into the winter break. Senior Kelli Shean finished third overall, earning her second top 10 finish and fourth top 20 finish of the season. Arkansas is idle until the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla., Feb. 22-23.SWIMMING AND DIVING (3-1, 1-1): The swimming and diving team returns to action when it plays host to SEC opponent Vanderbilt at Arkansas Natatorium beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday. The Hogs are 2-0 all time against the Commodores. Yi-Ting Siow repeated as Southeastern Conference swimmer of the week after she won the 100-yard breaststroke, 200y breaststroke and 400y individual medley against Florida and Kansas on Oct. 24 at Arkansas Natatorium.SOCCER (8-7-4, 2-7-2): Arkansas finished the season 8-7-4. After going 11-8 last year, the Razorbacks recorded consecutive winning seasons for the first time in program history. Arkansas has also recorded back-to-back non-losing seasons for the first time since 1992 (8-8-1) and 1993 (10-10-0). Head coach Erin Aubry became the first first-year head coach to post a winning record. Arkansas closed the year by playing a school-record four consecutive ranked opponents – No. 21 Ole Miss, No. 10 South Carolina, No. 12 Florida and No. 16 LSU. The Razorbacks set school records with 10 shutouts, four SEC shutouts and a goals against average of .80. Junior keeper Britni Williams ended the year as Arkansas’ career leader in shutouts with 22 and second on the victories list with 26. She also moved into a tie for fifth on the all-time saves list with 256. Freshman Allie Chandler led the team in goals with five and in points with 12.WOMEN’S TENNIS: Arkansas has concluded its fall schedule and will begin team competition Jan. 23 against Oklahoma State and St. Louis at George M. Billingsley Tennis Center and Dills Indoor Stadium.MEN’S TENNIS: Arkansas returns to the courts for one more fall event this weekend. Tennis action is schedule to resume Friday at the Virginia Tech Challenge in Blacksburg, Va. Head coach Robert Cox is sending Matt Hogan, Chris Nott, Bradwin Williams, Taylor King, Mike Ward, Nicholas Spinnazze, Matt Walters and Nikolas Zogaj to compete at the event. Walters won the consolation finals on Sunday at the 2009 Rebel Classic held at the Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas, Nev. He defeated Attila Toth of UNLV, 6-3, 6-2, before facing Cal Poly’s Jordan Bridge in the final round of the consolation flight. Walters won 6-4, 6-1. In doubles action, both Arkansas doubles teams advanced to the finals of the consolation flight. Dmitry Lebedev and Walters defeated David Flodberg and Patrick Schimmelbauer of Northern Arizona, 8-5. Williams and Zogaj teamed for an 8-3 victory over NAU’s Hugo Ramadier and Josh Brown.VOLLEYBALL (11-14, 5-9): The Razorbacs lost a pair of home matches last weekend to No. 12 Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. Against the Wildcats, Arkansas won its first set against a ranked team this season but lost the match in four sets, 25-18, 17-25, 25-22, 25-15. Jasmine Norton and Amanda Anderson had 19 and 12 kills, respectively. Norton added 13 digs for a double-double, and Anderson finished the match hitting .455. Lindsay Scanlan also posted a double-double effort with 40 assists and 12 digs. In the weekend finale, the Razorbacks and Lady Vols fought through a five-set match that featured 49 ties and 16 lead changes, but Tennessee came away with the five-set victory, 19-25, 25-18, 23-25, 26-24, 15-11. Norton tallied 22 kills and 12 digs, while Anderson had 13 kills and six total blocks. The Razorbacks had a season-high 13.5 blocks against Tennessee. Scanlan picked up her second double-double of the weekend with 53 assists and 12 digs. Arkansas returns to action Sunday with a matchup against No. 20 LSU. The match is being televised by CSS and scheduled for 1 p.m. (CT) at Barnhill Arena.OLYMPIC SPORTS PRESS CONFERENCE:Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Barnhill Arena interview room.