UA volleyball set for long road trip
FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas volleyball team climbed to its highest ranking ever at No. 10 in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and sits atop the SEC standings. But the Razorbacks have a daunting road trip upcoming.
The Razorbacks (17-2, 7-0 SEC) play their next five matches on the road, including three against ranked opponents.
The first portion of the road trip begins Friday at No. 10 Tennessee, then at No. 20 Kentucky on Sunday. The second portion will be at South Carolina on Oct. 27, then at Florida, which is tied at No. 17 with Arizona State, on Oct. 29 and at Georgia on Nov. 1.
Arkansas Coach Jason Watson has experienced some challenges in his eight seasons in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks finished 9-21 in his first season. He pointed out the upperclassmen on this team have gone through some trials, too.
“Certainly Maggie [Cartwright] and Jill [Gillen] have through some stuff,” Watson said. “Their freshman year, they won five SEC matches. We know there’s a lot of work left in front of us, but they’ve gone through some things together. I think that has helped. We know what it’s like the other way. We like this a lot better.”
Watson said he understands the road trip will be a challenge, but he believes his team is ready for it.
“It’s a pretty daunting task when you think about it, and it’s five really good teams, too,” Watson said. “When we leave Thursday for South Carolina and don’t come home until Wednesday night of the next week. That’s almost a week [total time] on the road. Our longest trip to date was [when] we left Wednesday before we played at Western Kentucky and came home Saturday. That’s four days.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever done a road trip that long before ever with a team. So there are some nuances there. When do you practice? Do you practice? When do you lift? Do you lift? There’s a lot to it.”
Senior outside hitter Taylor Head said the team is in a good mindset.
“We are continuing to just push every single day in practice,” Head said. “We continue to show other teams what we’re made of. I think we just continue playing our game. If we keep playing with each other and for each other then I think we’ll be in a good place no matter what.”
Watson said the fact his players are also good students takes one worry off his plate.
“I think what allows us to do it is we’ve got some really good students,” Watson said. “They are going to be prepared. While we don’t want to do that [miss class], it’s probably not as impactful if we didn’t have as good a students as we have.”
The Razorbacks are riding a 15-match winning streak, the longest in 20 years. Arkansas topped the 14-match streak in 2003 on Sunday, but now will set their sights on the 18-match streak achieved by the team in 1997.
Head, who climbed into the school’s top 10 all-time kill list over the weekend, said the group is excited about the opportunity starting this weekend. But she noted the mature group understands they will take care of their classroom responsibilities, too.
“I think we’re really excited to compete. … We’re pumped for the opportunity,” Head said. “We’re going to have a lot of time in the hotel to get our homework and stuff done. If we just take care of our time and our responsibility. I think we’ll be OK.”
Watson said this particular group — which includes six juniors, two seniors and three graduate students — doesn’t have to rely on just one or two leaders.
“This group does a real good job of allowing everybody to be themselves,” Watson said. “As a coach that’s really cool to see. There’s not a leader. There’s just a collective voice that allows that to happen and that works for this group. I don’t know if it’s going to work next year or down the road. But for this group, it works brilliantly.”