Lawrence paces volleyball miracle comeback
Volleyball
Nic Schluterman
Issue date: 10/31/08 Section: Sports
The Hogs were four points away from giving Auburn their first league win of the season.
In a season filled with various disappointments, a home loss on Sunday to the Tigers (5-18, 0-12 SEC) would have been a new program low for Arkansas (6-15, 3-8 SEC).
The Razorbacks looked asleep in the first set, losing 13-25 for their most lopsided set defeat in a year.
Arkansas fought back in the second frame, but a string of errors gave the Hogs a 0-2 deficit going into halftime.
The Tigers came our roaring in the second half, building an early lead in set three that they maintained late in the frame.
Then came the high water mark of the Auburn season, a 21-14 lead.
First year Hog boss Robert Pulliza was sulking silently on the Arkansas sideline. At halftime, he had resorted to benching both season kills leader Kelli Stipanovich and starting libero Phoebe Bautista.
"We were just trying to find the right chemistry, because we didn't have any in set one and two," Pulliza said.
Replacements Hillary McCormick and Mackenzie Rhea were struggling to pick up the slack.
At 14-21, senior hitter Christina Lawrence took the Hogs on her shoulders and refused to let her team lose.
Arkansas strung together a few points. Suddenly, Pulliza jumped off the bench and started barking instructions, growing in intensity with each point.
Auburn panicked and called timeout, which did little to stem their tide of unforced errors.
McCormick served an ace to give the Hogs their eighth straight point and a 22-21 lead.
The Tigers fought back and alternated a couple of points, but a pair of errors ceded to set and the momentum to Arkansas, 25-23.
The Hogs fought off a smaller deficit late in the fourth set to tie the match at two frames apiece.
Auburn took the first three points of the tiebreaker set, but after a Pulliza timeout, the Hogs took control of the match and captured the frame 15-9.
Lawrence finished the day with 22 kills and sophomore Heather Royal added 19 kills, both of which were career highs.
"We definitely made it exciting today," Pulliza said. "All year we have been preaching playing hard and playing together, and you don't get a much clearer example than the last three sets."
Pulliza hopes his team can carry the momentum of its last three sets into a pair of road matches this weekend.
The Razorbacks will spend their Halloween night playing at South Carolina (16-6, 7-5 SEC), who won a five-set match in Fayetteville earlier this season.
Four Hogs scored double-digit kills in that match, led by Stipanovich, who tallied a career-high 21 kills.
Gamecock senior hitter Belita Salters scores at the best clip in the conference this season with a .391 hitting percentage.
On Sunday, the Hogs will travel south to No. 11 Florida (17-2, 11-1 SEC), who swept Arkansas in their first meeting this year.
The Razorbacks have never won in Gainesville in ten previous trips, and are 2-24 all-time in the series.
In a season filled with various disappointments, a home loss on Sunday to the Tigers (5-18, 0-12 SEC) would have been a new program low for Arkansas (6-15, 3-8 SEC).
The Razorbacks looked asleep in the first set, losing 13-25 for their most lopsided set defeat in a year.
Arkansas fought back in the second frame, but a string of errors gave the Hogs a 0-2 deficit going into halftime.
The Tigers came our roaring in the second half, building an early lead in set three that they maintained late in the frame.
Then came the high water mark of the Auburn season, a 21-14 lead.
First year Hog boss Robert Pulliza was sulking silently on the Arkansas sideline. At halftime, he had resorted to benching both season kills leader Kelli Stipanovich and starting libero Phoebe Bautista.
"We were just trying to find the right chemistry, because we didn't have any in set one and two," Pulliza said.
Replacements Hillary McCormick and Mackenzie Rhea were struggling to pick up the slack.
At 14-21, senior hitter Christina Lawrence took the Hogs on her shoulders and refused to let her team lose.
Arkansas strung together a few points. Suddenly, Pulliza jumped off the bench and started barking instructions, growing in intensity with each point.
Auburn panicked and called timeout, which did little to stem their tide of unforced errors.
McCormick served an ace to give the Hogs their eighth straight point and a 22-21 lead.
The Tigers fought back and alternated a couple of points, but a pair of errors ceded to set and the momentum to Arkansas, 25-23.
The Hogs fought off a smaller deficit late in the fourth set to tie the match at two frames apiece.
Auburn took the first three points of the tiebreaker set, but after a Pulliza timeout, the Hogs took control of the match and captured the frame 15-9.
Lawrence finished the day with 22 kills and sophomore Heather Royal added 19 kills, both of which were career highs.
"We definitely made it exciting today," Pulliza said. "All year we have been preaching playing hard and playing together, and you don't get a much clearer example than the last three sets."
Pulliza hopes his team can carry the momentum of its last three sets into a pair of road matches this weekend.
The Razorbacks will spend their Halloween night playing at South Carolina (16-6, 7-5 SEC), who won a five-set match in Fayetteville earlier this season.
Four Hogs scored double-digit kills in that match, led by Stipanovich, who tallied a career-high 21 kills.
Gamecock senior hitter Belita Salters scores at the best clip in the conference this season with a .391 hitting percentage.
On Sunday, the Hogs will travel south to No. 11 Florida (17-2, 11-1 SEC), who swept Arkansas in their first meeting this year.
The Razorbacks have never won in Gainesville in ten previous trips, and are 2-24 all-time in the series.
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