2008 Woodie Awards
Volleyball continues to struggle
Derek Oxford
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Sports
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With the loss, the Lady `Backs are now 8-10, and 2-6 in SEC play, while Auburn improves to 10-9 overall, and also owns a similar 2-6 record in the SEC.
"It's a very disappointing loss," Arkansas head coach Chris Poole said. "We survived on Friday but needed more offensive output today. We relied a lot on the block Friday and it was again important today but we needed to put the ball down better today. We're still making way too many unforced errors."
The five-game long match was the Lady `Backs third consecutive match to go that distance. Sophomore Catherine Fowler led Arkansas with 18 kills, and senior Jessica Dorrell chimed in with 17 of her own.
Freshmen Heather Royal and Sarah Freudenrich also added 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
The match often see-sawed back and forth, with each team feeding off of momentum bursts or big plays.
In the first frame, the Lady `Backs hit .444 as a team, along with adding 17 kills and only committing one hitting error. Freudenrich led the way by hitting .833 and nabbing five kills.
Arkansas went on a big run midway through the second frame, but was unable to hold onto the lead. At one point, they led by four, but the offense started to slip, and Auburn took advantage of a Lady`Back hitting error to go on a run of their own and ended up winning the frame, while outhitting Arkansas .273 to .250.
During the third game, Auburn began with a big lead after numerous unforced errors by Arkansas. Auburn began making some of those same mistakes, however, allowing Arkansas to climb back in it. The Lady `Backs started focusing on making key blocks and used that to spark an 11-1 run that allowed them to cruise to a victory in the frame.
It was complete domination by Auburn in the fourth frame. They out-hit the Lady'Backs .278 to .128 while committing hardly any errors. Arkansas remained close throughout the frame but was unable to make enough plays to take a lead and Auburn won the frame.
Although staring at a deficit late in the game is tough, Arkansas refused to back down in the fifth and final frame. They stayed on Auburn's case most of the way and looked as if they might win the game until a 7-7 tie was broken when Auburn made a critical block and then shut the door on the Lady'Backs.
Junior Yun Tang posted career numbers for Arkansas. She accounted for 11 blocks, as blocking proved to be Arkansas' strength throughout the day.
Freudenrich and Fowler added seven and six blocks, respectively; on their way to impressive finishes.
Arkansas will be back in action again this Friday as they host perennial power Florida at 7 p.m., before taking on South Carolina Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
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