FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Oklahoma took the first set Friday night. Arkansas took everything after that.
The Razorbacks beat the Sooners 3-1 at Barnhill Arena by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 25-18.
Lakin Laurendine was the Hogs’ best hitter on the night. The senior put down 17 kills and had only one error in the process.
Do the math and you get a .485 hitting percentage. She also dug 10 balls, good for her first double-double of the year.
Arkansas is now 11-10 on the season and 3-7 in the SEC.
Not bad for a team that spent the first set chasing.
Parker Duncan wasn’t far behind Laurendine. The sophomore had 16 kills, and plenty of them came when it counted.
The fourth set belonged to her. She had two kills in a 5-0 run that pushed Arkansas out to an 11-4 lead.
Three Arkansas blocks and another Duncan kill made it 16-8 a few minutes later.
Oklahoma got three in a row to cut into that. It didn’t matter much. Duncan’s 15th kill of the night put the Razorbacks at 20.
She got the last word, too. Her final kill made it 25-18 and ended the match.
Senior Romani Thurman gave the Hogs a third double-digit hitter. She had 10 kills on .350 hitting.
The Razorbacks finished with 11 blocks. Oklahoma had five.
Layla Smith had seven of them by herself, counting two solos. Thurman chipped in five, and sophomore Aleki Alexander had three.
In the back row, freshman libero Madi Benne led the team with 13 digs.
Junior setter Kiki Remensperger handed out 44 assists.
Alexander helped flip the third set early. Arkansas won a challenge that gave her a kill, and the Hogs scored the next three to lead 6-3.
A Duncan kill had them up 15-12 at the technical timeout. Smith’s solo block got them to 20.
Laurendine put down a kill late, and then Alexander and Remensperger teamed up on a block to win the set 25-19.
Go back to the second set, though. That’s where this one could’ve gotten away.
Oklahoma went on a 4-0 run to grab a 7-6 lead. The Sooners were serving tough, and they were up 15-10 at the technical timeout.
Arkansas came out of that break with five of the next six points. Gaby Cornier’s ace cut it to 16-15.
Then Tekoa Barnes missed a serve. She hadn’t done that much all night.
The Razorbacks scored four straight from there. Thurman had two kills in that stretch, and Arkansas led 21-19.
Oklahoma tied it right after a timeout, so the Hogs burned one of their own. They won the set 25-23 anyway.
Barnes was a big reason the Sooners won the opener. She scored three points in it, including two aces in a row, and Oklahoma pulled away to a 22-16 lead.
Benne had an ace of her own early in that set to finish off a 5-0 Arkansas run. Oklahoma still won it 25-19.
Now the schedule gets tougher. Arkansas plays its next three matches away from home.
The first one is Sunday at No. 4 Florida. It starts at noon on SEC Network+.
