Volleyball hosts Kentucky and Tennessee

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team continues its trek through the 2008 Southeastern Conference schedule hosting Tennessee and No. 21 Kentucky this weekend. Arkansas (6-17, 3-10 SEC) opens the weekend Friday with a 7 p.m. contest against the Lady Vols (17-8, 10-4 SEC) followed by a Sunday afternoon match up with the Wildcats (22-3, 13-1 SEC). “We’re excited to be back at home,” said Arkansas head coach Robert Pulliza. “It should be a great weekend of volleyball with two very good teams coming to Barnhill Arena. “Tennessee is a team that’s playing really well right now,” he continued. “They should be an NCAA Tournament team and they are playing for position right now.” Arkansas has its own goals for the match. Senior Christina Lawrence has paced the team all season and recently recorded her career 1,000th kill. She is joined by freshman Kelli Stipanovich who leads the team in kills and kills-per-set. Junior Kristin Season and sophomore Heather Royal are also a big part of the Razorback offense and Pulliza will need all of his hitters to be “on” for the weekend. “You know, we played really well at their place (Tennessee),” said Pulliza. “That match was a mini-story of our whole season. The first two sets were not great for us. The last two sets we played as good as we could have. We played as good as an NCAA Tournament team. We just have to do that for an entire match.” Arkansas hosts the 21st-ranked Wildcats on Sunday with Kentucky in the midst of one of the best seasons in their program’s recent history. The Wildcats are tied for the lead in the SEC Eastern Division and are also playing for NCAA Tournament position. The Razorbacks hit the road next weekend traveling to Alabama and Mississippi State in the final road weekend of the regular season.