Arkansas volleyball took its first loss of the season on Tuesday, falling in straight sets to Rutgers by set scores of 19-25, 20-25 and 16-25.
The match served as the opening game of the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge in Nashville.
Rutgers controlled the hitting numbers all night, finishing at a .344 clip compared to just .152 for the Razorbacks.
The Scarlet Knights also won the battle at the service line, tallying nine aces to Arkansas’ five.
Senior Romani Thurman led the Hogs offensively with a team high six kills while hitting .357 for the match.
Freshman Paisley Pavliska wasn’t far behind in her first collegiate outing, adding five kills of her own.
Freshman libero Madi Benne set a new career high with 11 digs, keeping Arkansas competitive on the defensive end throughout the night.
Setter Kiki Remensperger chipped in 24 assists to go with a team high three aces.
The loss drops Arkansas to 3-1 on the year.
The Razorbacks don’t have much time to regroup, since they’re right back on the court Wednesday against Maryland in Nashville.
Early runs decide the first two sets
Rutgers jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the opening set before Arkansas found its footing.
A three-ace service run from Remensperger pulled the Razorbacks even and then ahead at 12-11. The two sides traded the lead five different times after that, but a 4-0 Rutgers surge put the Scarlet Knights up 21-18.
Arkansas managed just one more kill the rest of the way, and Rutgers finished the set on another 4-0 run to win 25-19.
Set two followed a similar pattern early, with Rutgers ahead but not comfortably so. A block from Thurman and Remensperger tied things at 7-7.
Every time the Hogs built momentum, though, Rutgers answered and kept at least a two-point cushion through the middle portion of the set.
An ace from Gaby Cornier sparked a 3-0 Rutgers run that made it 18-16, and the Scarlet Knights held steady from there. Arkansas reached the 20-point mark before Rutgers closed out a 25-20 set win to take a 2-0 match lead.
A late push isn’t enough in set three
The third set was Rutgers’ most dominant, as the Scarlet Knights never let Arkansas score more than two points in a row for most of the frame.
Rutgers pushed past 20 points before the Hogs mounted any real pressure.
A solo block and kill from Layla Smith paired with a kill from Thurman trimmed the deficit to 20-14, prompting a Rutgers timeout.
The stoppage didn’t slow the Scarlet Knights down. Rutgers grabbed five of the next seven points to close out a 25-16 set win and complete the sweep.
Arkansas now turns its attention to Maryland for the second match of the Big Ten/SEC Challenge.
First serve in that one is set for 4 p.m. Wednesday in Nashville, with the match streaming live on SEC Network+.
