Volleyball wins two of three at home tourney
Nic Schluterman
Issue date: 9/15/08 Section: Sports
The Arkansas women's volleyball team rolled in the first two matches of a home tournament over the weekend, only to fall to Virginia Tech in the five-set finale.
The results moved the squad's record to 3-7 going into the beginning of the SEC slate this week.
"It was a weekend in which we did some good things; we moved forward," said first-year Arkansas head coach Robert Pulliza.
Senior Christina Lawrence, who saw her first regular playing time in the round-robin since suffering an abdominal strain in the preseason, was named to the all-tournament team.
"It feels good to be on the all-tournament team," Lawrence said. "But we need to find what's going to work for us to get some wins, because those feel better."
Freshman Kelli Stipanovich led the Hog attack with 42 kills on the weekend, and she also received all-tournament honors.
"Kelli had a hell of a week," Pulliza said. "If we can keep up the production from the left side, we'll be in pretty good shape."
That left side also included the output of sophomore Heather Royal, who was second on the team with 28 kills over the three matches.
The Arkansas Invitational began for the hosts with an outing against the Southland Conference's Lamar (Tex.) (2-6) Friday night.
Junior Kristin Seaton led the team in hitting percentage for the match at .500, resulting in 9 kills en route to a 25-21, 25-14, 25-20 Hog win.
"The key is we played together, we had good camaraderie, and everything just clicked," Seaton said.
After a tight first set in which both teams hit well, the visiting Cardinals' attack fell apart in the second frame, yielding more errors than kills. Arkansas junior Destiny Clark served an ace to end set two and give the Razorbacks their highest margin of victory in a set this year.
Lawrence ended the match with a soft kill that fell untouched in the middle of the Cardinal half.
"It was the first win here at home for us, and the atmosphere was great," said Pulliza.
The results moved the squad's record to 3-7 going into the beginning of the SEC slate this week.
"It was a weekend in which we did some good things; we moved forward," said first-year Arkansas head coach Robert Pulliza.
Senior Christina Lawrence, who saw her first regular playing time in the round-robin since suffering an abdominal strain in the preseason, was named to the all-tournament team.
"It feels good to be on the all-tournament team," Lawrence said. "But we need to find what's going to work for us to get some wins, because those feel better."
Freshman Kelli Stipanovich led the Hog attack with 42 kills on the weekend, and she also received all-tournament honors.
"Kelli had a hell of a week," Pulliza said. "If we can keep up the production from the left side, we'll be in pretty good shape."
That left side also included the output of sophomore Heather Royal, who was second on the team with 28 kills over the three matches.
The Arkansas Invitational began for the hosts with an outing against the Southland Conference's Lamar (Tex.) (2-6) Friday night.
Junior Kristin Seaton led the team in hitting percentage for the match at .500, resulting in 9 kills en route to a 25-21, 25-14, 25-20 Hog win.
"The key is we played together, we had good camaraderie, and everything just clicked," Seaton said.
After a tight first set in which both teams hit well, the visiting Cardinals' attack fell apart in the second frame, yielding more errors than kills. Arkansas junior Destiny Clark served an ace to end set two and give the Razorbacks their highest margin of victory in a set this year.
Lawrence ended the match with a soft kill that fell untouched in the middle of the Cardinal half.
"It was the first win here at home for us, and the atmosphere was great," said Pulliza.
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