Arkansas volleyball is packing its bags for Nashville this week.
The Razorbacks will play two matches during the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge on Tuesday Sept. 1 and Wednesday Sept. 2.
The Hogs are traveling to the home gym of SEC foe Vanderbilt but they won’t actually play the Commodores this trip.
Arkansas takes on Rutgers Tuesday at 3 p.m. before turning around to face Maryland Wednesday at the same time.
This challenge week brings together every team from the Big Ten and the SEC for one busy stretch of matches and Arkansas’ game against Rutgers kicks the whole thing off.
Rutgers arrives at 2-1 on the young season after wins over Bellarmine and Evansville.
Maryland has only played once so far this year sweeping Howard 3-0 and the Terrapins will host Vanderbilt Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Arkansas already has a little history with both teams coming into the week. The Razorbacks beat Rutgers 3-0 back in 2024 in the programs’ only previous meeting.
Maryland has been a tougher matchup though and the Hogs are 0-2 against the Terps with the last meeting all the way back in 2019.
Arkansas rolls into Nashville off a perfect opening weekend at Barnhill Arena where the team swept SIUE, UTA and UTSA.
The Razorbacks dropped just one set across those three matches and won their sets by an average margin of 6.8 points.
Early numbers show two different styles
The stat sheets from this young season give a good look at what Arkansas could face this week.
Rutgers is hitting .273 as a team with 13.20 kills per set and 11.90 assists per set to go with 10.30 digs per set.
Maryland brings a much heavier offense into the building hitting .434 with 17.00 kills per set and 17.00 assists per set.
The Terps also dig 13.30 balls per set but have managed just 1.30 blocks per set and 1.00 ace per set so far.
Arkansas countered its own opening slate with a .337 hitting percentage and 13.90 kills per set.
The Razorbacks lead the group with 2.55 blocks per set and have held opponents to a stingy .162 hitting percentage through three matches.
Both matches from Nashville will stream on SEC Network+ with live stats running the whole time.
