Tide swamps Arkansas in Tuscaloosa

Jump to Alabama box TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Arkansas suffered a three-game Southeastern Conference loss at Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday. The loss drops Arkansas to 10-6 overall and 3-5 in the SEC while Bama improves to 10-6 and 5-2 with the 22-30, 18-30, 25-30 win. The Crimson Tide win snaps a nine-match winning streak for the Lady Razorbacks against Alabama and is the third consecutive loss for Arkansas. ”It was a very disappointing match tonight,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Poole. “We were completely out of sync the whole match.” Arkansas finished the match without a block and hit just .128. Senior Denitza Koleva had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs. She hit .385 for the match. “I don’t know that that has ever happened to me as a coach,” said Poole of the blocks. “We know that when we get a block it demoralizes the other team and we couldn’t get even one tonight. That’s very disappointing.” Bama finished hitting .324 with a pair of player in double-figures lead by Bridget Fuentez with 12. Bama came out of the gates on fire in game one opening a 10-3 lead behind four Arkansas hitting errors prompting Poole to take his first timeout of the match. Arkansas closed within five points but the Lady’Back offense never found its rhyme in game one. Unforced errors hindered the Lady’Backs who finished the frame hitting just .073 with nine hitting errors. Bama hit .317 with 18 kills and three blocks. In addition, Arkansas, one of the best blocking teams in the conference, did not have a block in the first game. “We were completely out of sync in the first game,” said Poole. “They played well but we couldn’t take care of the ball on our side of the net. We struggled with unforced errors and Alabama made us pay for our mistakes. They took advantage of everything.” The Lady’Backs began the second game with four consecutive errors again spotting Bama an easy 6-0 lead – a lead they would stretch to 8-0 before Christina Lawrence got on the board with a kill on a broken play. But things didn’t get better for Arkansas from there. The Crimson Tide laid down seven service aces and out-hit Arkansas .333-.081 in the game. In addition, the Tide continued to hold Arkansas without a block in the match. Game three was closer in the early goings with Arkansas able to put together some offense behind Koleva but Bama lead 15-12 at the media timeout and had the momentum heading into the television break. The Lady’Backs continued to fight coming within two, 24-22, but they couldn’t take the lead, dropping the final game 30-25. The Lady Razorbacks return to road SEC action at No. 8 Florida Friday followed by a Sunday afternoon match at Auburn. The Lady’Backs return home hosting Tennessee and Kentucky Oct. 20 and Oct. 22, respectively. For more information about Arkansas volleyball or for tickets please call the Lady Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK or log on to LADYBACKS.COM.