Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
Arkansas fell to Tennessee in four sets, and the box score makes it look like the Hogs should’ve had a better shot at this one.
Arkansas hit .254 Friday night at Barnhill Arena, one of its best numbers in SEC play this year. No. 9 Tennessee won anyway, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20.
Aleki Alexander was the bright spot. The middle blocker had nine kills with no errors and hit .750, a career high.
Layla Smith, the other middle, also had nine kills. She hit .368.
The Razorbacks are 9-8 now and 1-5 in the SEC.
The first and fourth sets were both tied late. Tennessee won them both.
Two freshmen in big roles
Parker Duncan had 13 kills to lead the team. Romani Thurman added 11.
Maggie McCarroll ran the offense in only her third college start. The freshman setter had 41 assists.
She also had nine digs, a kill and an ace.
Madi Benne, another freshman, had 14 digs at libero. Nobody on the team had more.
That’s a lot to put on two newcomers against a top-10 team. They didn’t put up rookie numbers.
McCarroll’s ace came on the first point of the second set. Arkansas won that one.
Arkansas takes set 2
Set 2 started close. Two Alexander kills helped Arkansas go on a 3-0 run and take an 8-6 lead.
Neither team led by more than two for a while after that.
A Bohannan kill started a 4-0 run. The Hogs were up 15-13 at the technical timeout.
They kept it going from there. Arkansas got to 19-14, and Tennessee called timeout.
The break helped Tennessee a little. The Razorbacks still led by as many as seven and won 25-19.
That evened the match at a set apiece.
Lady Vols take sets 1 and 3
The first set was tight early. Arkansas broke an 11-11 tie with a three-point run, capped by a Thurman and Smith block.
Tennessee answered with a 3-1 run and was ahead 15-13 at the break.
After that, the Lady Vols didn’t let Arkansas get more than a point or two at a time. They reached 20 first, and the Hogs called timeout.
Kills from Smith and Bohannan tied it at 23. Tennessee took a timeout, came back out and scored the last two points.
Tennessee went up 10-6 in the third set with a 5-2 run. It led 16-11 after the technical timeout.
The Razorbacks cut into that with four straight points. Duncan had the last kill, and Tennessee called time. The Lady Vols got back to an 18-14 lead and won the set 25-19.
The fourth set and what’s next
Arkansas started the fourth set well. Then Tennessee scored six in a row, and the Hogs called timeout trailing 11-8.
Arkansas came back with five straight points. A Duncan ace made it 18-17 Tennessee.
Tennessee got the next point. The Hogs got the next two to tie it at 19, and Tennessee called time.
The Lady Vols scored five straight out of that timeout to get to match point. Arkansas saved one. A Tennessee kill ended it on the next rally.
Next up? No. 4 Kentucky. The schedule isn’t doing the Razorbacks any favors.
The Wildcats visit Barnhill Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. to close the homestand.
It’s also Arkansas’ annual Pink Match for cancer awareness. SEC Network+ will stream it.
