2008 Woodie Awards
Lady'Back volleyball looks to bounce back
Derek Oxford
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: Sports
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The Lady'Back volleyball team is looking to bounce back this weekend as it returns home to the friendly confines of Barnhill Arena.
Head coach Chris Poole and his charges face Alabama at home Friday night, followed by a Sunday afternoon match-up with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Arkansas is hoping to regain some of the momentum it lost over the past weekend. After an upset of then-No. 5 Florida two weeks ago, followed by a win over South Carolina, the Lady'Backs dropped two consecutive on the road to LSU and Ole Miss.
The Lady'Backs have already lost to Alabama and Mississippi State this season. On Sept. 23, they flopped against the Crimson Tide in three games. Two days before, it was Mississippi State who came out with the upper hand against the Lady'Backs, in a match that also went three games.
Arkansas currently stands with a 10-12 record and is 4-8 in the Southeastern Conference. With a pair of victories this weekend, the Lady'Backs can get themselves back to .500, with a shot of making the NCAA Tournament.
Poole wasn't very impressed with his offense against LSU and Ole Miss, and it is something he said needs to be corrected.
"Our offense is terrible right now," Poole said. "We just can't get anything going right now. We had our chances in games two and three (against Ole Miss) and couldn't put them away."
In the loss to Ole Miss, Arkansas hit a mediocre .119 as a squad. Those kind of hitting performances will have to be done away with if the Lady'Backs want to succeed for the rest of the season, Poole said.
A couple of Arkansas freshmen, however, have stepped up to the plate and done their job for the Lady'Backs, Poole said.
Sarah Freudenrich, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, who hails from Broken Arrow, Okla., is now currently ranked in the top 20 in blocking in the country.
Her first game of the season yielded positive results, as she finished with nine kills, hit .500 overall along with coming up with four blocks.
"Sarah is gaining confidence every time she plays," Poole said. "She looked like a deer in the headlights in that first match but has made really good improvement over the year. Sarah continues to become more of an offensive weapon for us with each match. She's a hard worker and a great kid and it's great to watch her get better each week."
Freudenrich is second in the SEC with a 1.51 block per game average. Those numbers would put her at the top of the charts for Arkansas blockers and the freshman's average is good for fifth all-time in a season.
Heather Royal has not disappointed the Lady'Back faithful either. She was the only Arkansas player in double-figures in the loss to Ole Miss over the weekend, but her 11 kills and 12 digs were enough to keep the Lady'Backs in the game.
Head coach Chris Poole and his charges face Alabama at home Friday night, followed by a Sunday afternoon match-up with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Arkansas is hoping to regain some of the momentum it lost over the past weekend. After an upset of then-No. 5 Florida two weeks ago, followed by a win over South Carolina, the Lady'Backs dropped two consecutive on the road to LSU and Ole Miss.
The Lady'Backs have already lost to Alabama and Mississippi State this season. On Sept. 23, they flopped against the Crimson Tide in three games. Two days before, it was Mississippi State who came out with the upper hand against the Lady'Backs, in a match that also went three games.
Arkansas currently stands with a 10-12 record and is 4-8 in the Southeastern Conference. With a pair of victories this weekend, the Lady'Backs can get themselves back to .500, with a shot of making the NCAA Tournament.
Poole wasn't very impressed with his offense against LSU and Ole Miss, and it is something he said needs to be corrected.
"Our offense is terrible right now," Poole said. "We just can't get anything going right now. We had our chances in games two and three (against Ole Miss) and couldn't put them away."
In the loss to Ole Miss, Arkansas hit a mediocre .119 as a squad. Those kind of hitting performances will have to be done away with if the Lady'Backs want to succeed for the rest of the season, Poole said.
A couple of Arkansas freshmen, however, have stepped up to the plate and done their job for the Lady'Backs, Poole said.
Sarah Freudenrich, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, who hails from Broken Arrow, Okla., is now currently ranked in the top 20 in blocking in the country.
Her first game of the season yielded positive results, as she finished with nine kills, hit .500 overall along with coming up with four blocks.
"Sarah is gaining confidence every time she plays," Poole said. "She looked like a deer in the headlights in that first match but has made really good improvement over the year. Sarah continues to become more of an offensive weapon for us with each match. She's a hard worker and a great kid and it's great to watch her get better each week."
Freudenrich is second in the SEC with a 1.51 block per game average. Those numbers would put her at the top of the charts for Arkansas blockers and the freshman's average is good for fifth all-time in a season.
Heather Royal has not disappointed the Lady'Back faithful either. She was the only Arkansas player in double-figures in the loss to Ole Miss over the weekend, but her 11 kills and 12 digs were enough to keep the Lady'Backs in the game.
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