21.3 F
Fayetteville

Hogs advance in 10 matches at Southern Intercollegiate

ATHENS, Ga. — Arkansas’ men’s tennis team continued action at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships on Saturday, advancing in 10 matches.

Two pairs of Hogs advanced to the Division I doubles round of 16. Oscar Mesquida and Adam Sajurjo handled Linues Bergevi and Tim Gennes 8-2. Josh Howard and Alex Reco battled to an 8-7 victory over Araujo and Michael Copeland of UNC Wilmington.

Mesquida and Reco both picked up victories in the division one singles action. Reco topped Rafael Coutinho 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets, while Mesquida needed three to beat (Tennessee Tech) 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2.

Arkansas will continue play tomorrow morning to wrap up the tournament in Athens.

Saturday’s Results

Division I Doubles Round of 32 
Oscar Mesquida/Adam Sanjurjo (Arkansas) def. Linus Bergevi/Tim Gennes (Stetson) 8-2
Alvaro Regalado/Zach Whaanga (Columbus State) def. Jose Alonso/Pedro Alonso (Arkansas) 8-5
Josh Howard/Alex Reco (Arkansas) def. Giovanni Araujo/Michael Copeland (UNC Wilmington) 8-7 (4)

Division I Singles Round of 16 
Oscar Mesquida (Arkansas) def. Rafael Tosetto (Tennessee Tech) 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2
Alex Reco (Arkansas) def. Rafael Coutinho (GA Gwinnett) 6-1, 6-1

Division I Singles Consolation 
Jose Alonso (Arkansas) def. Arnold Kokulewski (Columbus St.) 6-2, 1-0 retired
Michael Copeland (UNC Wilmington) def. Josh Howard (Arkansas) retired
Adam Sanjurjo (Arkansas) def. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi (UCF) 7-6, 6-2
Dan Martin (Dartmouth) def. Pedro Alonso (Arkansas) 4-6, 7-5, 10-4

Division II Singles Round of 16
Enrique Paya (Arkansas) def. Harvey Maughan (Kennesaw State) 6-1, 6-2

Division II Doubles Round of 32
Josh Bortnick/Enrique Paya (Arkansas) def. Ventura Durall/Sebastian Harris (Gardner Webb) 8-5

Division II Doubles Round of 16 
Gonzalo Garcia/Riku Kubota (Tennessee Tech) def. Josh Bortnick/Enrique Paya (Arkansas) 8-4

Division III Singles Consolation
Josh Bortnick (Arkansas) def. Ivan Morin-Kougoucheff (FAU) 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (6)

Friday’s Results

Division I Singles Round of 64
Adam Sanjurjo def. Carlos Gomez (Barry) 6-4, 6-1
Mikhail Sokolovsky (UCF) def. Pedro Alonso 7-6, 6-2
Josh Howard def. Alvaro Regalado (Columbus St.) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
Alex Reco def. Manoel Alencar (UCF) 7-5, 4-6, 6-0
Jose Alonso def. Ignasi Forcano (Barry) 6-4, 6-3
Enrique Paya def. Stathis Tsirandis (Mercer) 6-1, 7-5
Julien Pereira (Point) def. Josh Bortnick 6-1, 6-3

Division I Singles Round of 32
Maximilliam Scholl (Gardner Webb) def. Adam Sanjurjo 6-4, 6-2
Vivien Versier (Barry) def. Josh Howard (Arkansas) 6-4, 6-3
Oscar Mesquida def. Juan Lugo (ETSU) 6-3, 6-3
Alan Rubio (UCF) def. Jose Alonso (Arkansas) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Division II Singles Round of 64
Oscar Mesquida def. Evan Fragistas (Virginia Tech) 6-3, 6-4

Division II Singles Round of 32
Enrique Paya def. Britton Johnson (Georgia) 6-2, 7-5

Division III Singles Round of 16
Julien Pereira (Point) def. Josh Bortnick 6-1, 6-3

Razorbacks sweep through three-match weekend at Barnhill

FAYETTEVILLE — Behind a season-high .361 hitting percentage, Arkansas swept its way past Northwestern to win the Arkansas Classic.

The Razorbacks didn’t drop a set throughout the three-match weekend and improve to 6-2 through the first three weeks of the season.

Sophomore Logan Brown led all players with a career-high 15 kills while junior Reagan Robinson tallied the first double-double — 11 kills, 10 digs — of her career.

After a successful home weekend, Arkansas returns to the road next weekend for the Georgia Tech Classic in Atlanta with matches against NC State and Georgia Tech.

The Razorbacks return to Barnhill Arena on Sunday, Sept. 23 for their SEC home opener against Missouri.

FINAL
Arkansas 3, Northwestern 0
Attendance: 365 | Time: 1:24
Barnhill Arena (Fayetteville, Ark.)

#RazorStats
• Stat leaders vs Northwestern
o Kills: Logan Brown – 15 (career high)
o Digs: Reagan Robinson – 10
o Blocks: Elizabeth Pamphile – 7.0 (1-6)
• Double-Doubles:
o Reagan Robinson – 11 kills, 10 digs (first of her career)
• First-ever meeting between the two programs

Junior co-captain Rachel Rippee dished out 35 assists in setting the team to its season-best mark. The figure was Arkansas’ second of .300 or higher of the day; the team hit .326 in its afternoon victory over Buffalo.

Sophomore co-captain Elizabeth Pamphile paced the Razorbacks’ defensive showing with seven total blocks.

She and senior Kelly O’Brien combined for 14 kills and no errors, good for a .483 combined efficiency.

2018 Arkansas Classic
Final Standings
Arkansas: 3-0
Northwestern: 2-1
Buffalo: 1-2
Butler: 0-3

Friday Results:
Match 1: Northwestern def. Buffalo, 3-1
Match 2: Arkansas def. Butler, 3-0

Saturday Results:
Match 3: Northwestern def. Butler, 3-1
Match 4: Arkansas def. Buffalo, 3-0
Match 5: Buffalo def. Butler, 3-2
Match 6: Arkansas def. Northwestern, 3-0

UPDATED: New Hogs look like old ones in 34-27 loss

1

After a season last year of watching Arkansas blow second-half leads, fans had hopes it was over with a new coaching staff.

Apparently not.

Colorado State found themselves down 27-9 in the third quarter against the Razorbacks and came all the way back to a 34-27 win in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Saturday night.

It’s an epic collapse for a team — and fan base — that thought all of that was behind them with Chad Morris coming in as the coach.

This game shows the name at the top may have changed, but not enough players did … so here we go again.

Put this one directly on Morris’ shoulders. Well, you can also throw a lot of it on John Chavis and the defense, too.

Yes, there was plenty of blame to go around on this one.

What will hurt worse than anything is that the Hogs were dominating the game through three quarters. They had 421 yards of offense at the end of the third period, then managed just 16 total offensive yards for the final frame.

Colorado State, on the other hand, had 234 yards going into a fourth quarter where they had 195 yards. Yes, you’re following correctly … the Rams put up 195 of their 429 yards in the game in the fourth quarter. Yes, 45 percent of their total offense in the game came in the final period.

That’s why Chavis has as many questions in this one as Morris and offensive coordinator Joe Craddock will have to answer Monday at high noon in their press conference.

Welcome to Arkansas, guys, because the honeymoon is officially over two weeks into the season.

If anything, the loss to Colorado State should give Morris and Craddock enough information to realize their quarterback is either going to be one of two true freshmen or he’s not on campus yet.

Ty Storey got the start based on his performance last week against Eastern Illinois. He didn’t play as well against the Rams. Cole Kelley came on in the second half and played like, well, Cole Kelley.

Storey completed just 5-of-13 for 36 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Kelley was 6-of-9 for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

In a game where Colorado State wasn’t consistently stopping the running game (299 yards for the game), they got into the red zone and tried to pass. Devwah Whaley had 165 yards on 26 carries. Rakeem Boyd put up another 67 yards on seven carries and Chase Hayden had 55 yards on 11 carries.

But in the red zone, the Hogs couldn’t run and tried to throw, which didn’t work, either.

A lot will be made of a decision to punt at the end of the third quarter. Facing fourth-and-1 at midfield, Morris made the decision to punt.

After that the Hogs just collapsed on both sides of the ball.

This is one that will be re-hashed for a week.

And for a new look, starting at the top, it looked an awful lot like what we saw in the old look for the previous two seasons.

Halftime announces weekly lineup

0

Starts Monday. Every weekday from 12-2.

One Man’s Picks: Arkansas-Colorado State, picks

0

Week One is behind us, and even though one might have an attitude of, “Well, it was just Eastern Illinois,” Razorback fans have seen a glimmer of hope.

And while the remainder of the full season may prove difficult to maintain the growing expectations, Saturday’s contest at Colorado State may assist our understanding of where this Arkansas football team can possibly finish.

In the game against EIU, the defense was aggressive and appeared to progress as the game went along, at least until the game was under control.

Unfortunately, Eastern Illinois exposed some weaknesses in the Razorbacks’ defense (in particular the secondary) which SEC teams will better fully exploit unless defensive coordinator John Chavis can find a way to fix the holes.

Five forced and recovered fumbles were shining points for the defense which seemed to have a nose and hunger for the ball, and the attempts to jar the ball loose from the opponent appear to be a mixture of talent as well as a coaching technique.

Calculate in that one of turnovers served as a defensive touchdown, then this unit has quickly built the footwork from which to build.

On the offensive side of the ball, the second and third drives looked stagnant. Enter Ty Storey, and then something magnificent happened.

Not to say Cole Kelley did not impress, however, Storey seemed to have great command of the offense. He checked down very well, looked agile on runs, and had an impressive stiff-arm. In summary, HE LOOKED COMFORTABLE.

Twitter seemed to follow suit on Storey as well:

The offense is never without opportunities of improvement, and the offensive line needs to afford the quarterback more time.

It also needs better run blocking to increase rushing yardage which will keep Colorado State from teeing off on the Arkansas quarterback … or quarterbacks. The blocking by the wide receiver corps may prove fruitful in this game away from Razorback Stadium.

Speaking of being on the road, the Hogs have had a dismal winning percentage on the road. All aspirations are that new head coach Chad Morris & Co. can end that trend which nags more on fans than the wife to a husband who wants her family to move back home from the plains.

Lastly, special teams will play a huge role in this game. Not only will field position be key (as it always is), but we will see if Conner Limpert can continue to kick it true.

While we want our place kicker to keep up his great technique, more to the middle of the uprights would do our diastolic and systolic good this game, Mr. Limpert.

In summary, the Rams prove a tougher test than did the EIU Panthers this past weekend. Granted, Colorado State is 0–2, yet they did compete with a decent team out of Hawaii back in late August.

Their second loss came to their in-state foes, the Colorado Buffaloes. Arkansas must focus on still being a season-long underdog and [forgive me for the cliché] take no one for granted.

I do not feel the Hogs will be complacent, and the entire team will capitalize on their momentum. Arkansas, 34–17.

In keeping with the spirit of our contest, and fully aware that Andy Hodges is no slouch (since he dominated me with his 12–1 to my 10–3 Week One picks), I will now uncork the rest of the SEC in its second week of contests.

Upon reflection, I should have been even more of a conference homer last week than I had originally thought.

  • (18) Mississippi State at Kansas State – MSU by 12
  • Nevada at Vanderbilt – Vandy by 3
  • Arkansas State at (1) Alabama – ASU… (Wait, I’m not that much of a homer) Alabama by 35
  • (3) Georgia at (24) South Carolina – Bulldogs by 24
  • Southern Illinois at Ole Miss – Rebels by 22
  • ETSU at Tennessee – Vols by 28
  • (2) Clemson at Texas A&M – Clemson by a close 14
  • SE Louisiana at (11) LSU – Tigers by 38
  • Wyoming at Missouri – Tigers by 10
  • Alabama State at (7) Auburn – War Eagles by 34
  • Arkansas at Colorado State – HOGS by 17
  • Kentucky at (25) Florida – Gators by 20

That’s it – no “Upset Alert” this week. Go HOGS!!!

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

0

John, Tommy and former Hog QB Tyler Wilson hit on the rushing attack, interview Raymond House, and play Pick’em Week 2 on Fenceman Friday.

Colorado State should be another easy win for Hogs

0

Arkansas goes for a second win to start the Chad Morris Era on Saturday night in Colorado against Colorado State in a game that shouldn’t be one by halftime.

Again.

Last week, the Razorbacks didn’t exactly stumble out of the gate against FCS opponent Eastern Illinois, but they didn’t really break at full stride.

The guess here is that won’t happen this week. The Rams, coached by former Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo, have a secondary that gives up big plays in bunches so you wouldn’t think they would force the Hogs to throw.

That didn’t work well for Eastern Illinois last week.

If things hold true to form, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Colorado State start off by making Arkansas prove they can run the ball against a normal front.

To tell you the truth, I’d kinda like to see how that works myself. Last week’s game may or may not have created more questions than we had about the offensive line coming into the game. Because there often was everybody but the cheerleaders in the box it’s hard to tell.

Shoot, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Rams drop six or seven to stop the passing until the running game proves it can consistently get first downs. Then we’ll find out if offensive coordinator Joe Craddock has the patience to just run the ball until they show they can stop it.

My guess is they should be able to do that against this team, which isn’t very good.

The Hogs come into the game as a 14-point favorite, but I think that’s a little low. That line is probably based on a lack of money coming in on the Hogs because folks have the same questions I do.

This one is more than a two-touchdown game just based on the talent differential.

Arkansas 51, Colorado State 21

In other games around the SEC, there is only two conference matchups. We’ll go ahead and knock out Vanderbilt over Nevada, Ole Miss over Southern Illinois, Tennessee over East Tennessee State, LSU over Southeast Louisiana, Missouri over Wyoming and Auburn will likely beat Alabama State to a bloody pulp.

Our record last week was 12-1 and I didn’t count on LSU playing a team that was going to just lay down like Miami did.

-8 Mississippi State at Kansas State

We’ll have a better read on the Bulldogs and first-year coach Joe Moorhead after this game, which is usually the type game that trips up Mississippi State.

The Wildcats aren’t expected to be very good, but Bill Snyder hasn’t lasted as long as he has without pulling bigger upsets over higher-ranked teams than this.

I’m not ready to step up and pick K-State to pull an upset, but it’s going to be closer than the betting spread.

Mississippi State 28, Kansas State 24

-10 Georgia at South Carolina

We find out if the Gamecocks are for real in this game with Deebo Samuel at full strength.

They probably are better than what a lot of people think, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to step up and knock off the Bulldogs.

South Carolina may keep it closer than folks think, but don’t look for them to pull out a straight-up win.

Georgia 31, South Carolina 28

Arkansas State at -36 Alabama

Okay Red Wolves’ fans, you don’t have to win this game to make a huge statement. Quite frankly, if ASU keeps it inside four touchdowns it’ll be a big time win, although you might be hard-pressed to get anybody in Jonesboro to agree.

The Crimson Tide could — and I’ll admit this is a ridiculously wild prediction to even discuss — be one of the best teams in modern-day football.

The worst thing in the world for ASU was Nick Saban getting ticked off in last week’s 51-14 beatdown of Louisville.

You can bet Alabama will be razor-sharp focused on this one and probably won’t let off the gas until the clock runs out.

Alabama 63, Arkansas State 7

Clemson -12 at Texas A&M

I actually had an Aggie send me a message this week they were going to pull the biggest upset of the season this week against Clemson.

Whether he was sober or not is not known beyond a shadow of doubt. But there is no doubt a large number of Aggies feel the same way.

And that’s part of why Jimbo Fisher is not going to ever be able to pull A&M to the level of an Alabama or, more to the point, even Clemson.

They sure won’t do it two weeks into his first season.

Clemson 42, Texas A&M 14

Kentucky at -13½ Florida

It’s been over 30 years since the Wildcats have beaten the Gators. I wasn’t even 30 years old and don’t even remember noticing the score, which actually says more about the state of Florida football than Kentucky.

In the following years, in fact, the Wildcats have lost by one score just six times and three of those have come in the last four seasons.

And, again, that says more about Florida football than Kentucky.

With Dan Mullen now directing the Gators they looked more organized offensively last week in their opener than they have in the last several years.

Florida 35, Kentucky 14

Arkansas Classic begins Friday at Barnhill Arena after road trips

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ volleyball team is back at Barnhill Arena this weekend after four-straight matches away from home.

The Razorbacks will welcome Buffalo, Butler and Northwestern to Fayetteville for the Arkansas Classic which begins Friday. Individual match tickets are $5 while UA students and fans 17 years and younger will receive free admission.

2018 Arkansas Classic

Friday, Sept. 7
5 p.m. – Northwestern (H) vs Buffalo
7 p.m. – Arkansas vs Butler

Saturday, Sept. 8
10 a.m. – Butler (H) vs Northwestern
12 p.m. – Arkansas vs Buffalo
5 p.m. – Buffalo (H) vs Butler
7 p.m. – Arkansas vs Northwestern

Against the Field

Of its three opponents during this weekend’s round robin at Barnhill Arena, Arkansas has only faced Butler but the two programs haven’t played since 1999.

The Razorbacks own a 3-1 lead in the series. Buffalo and Northwestern are two of four first-time opponents this season.

Last Time Out

Arkansas went 2-1 during last weekend’s Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis. The Razorbacks collected wins over Georgia Southern and North Dakota State before falling to host and new No. 1 Minnesota.

Senior Showcase

Kelly O’Brien and Okiana Valle were named to the Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team. O’Brien tallied 3.20 kills per set and had a career-high 14 kills against Minnesota while Valle averaged 4.30 digs per set with 21 digs in a four-set win over North Dakota State.

Defensive Stand

In a straight-set win over Georgia Southern (Aug. 31), the Razorbacks held their opponent to a -.013 effiency which is the sixth-lowest mark since 2005. Through two weeks, Arkansas is holding opponents to a .148 figure which ranks second in the SEC.

Where They Rank

Junior Rachel Rippee enters the weekend fifth in the SEC at 10.68 assists per set while senior libero Okiana Valle also ranks fifth with 4.47 digs per set. Sophomore Hailey Dirrigl is averaging 3.88 kills per set which is eighth in the SEC.

Season tickets are still available with pricing options beginning at $40 and can be purchased through the Razorback Ticket Center by calling 800-982-HOGS (4647).

Following this weekend’s Arkansas Classic, the Razorbacks return to their home floor Sept. 23 to host Missouri.

CSU play-by-play broadcaster Brian Roth joined us in Hour 3

0

Colorado State play-by-play broadcaster Brian Roth talks Mike Bobo’s health, the upcoming matchup with Arkansas and more!

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Thursday

0

John and Tommy talk Chad Morris as a great recruiter, past coaches in the SEC, interview Richard Davenport and more!