State sports briefs

UA opens at Texas A&M

The University of Arkansas men’s basketball team will open SEC play at Texas A&M on Jan. 5, then play its next two games at home against Florida on Jan. 9 and LSU on Jan. 12, according to the schedule released Friday.

The Razorbacks’ other SEC home games are against Missouri on Jan. 23, Georgia on Jan. 29, Vanderbilt on Feb 5, Mississippi State on Feb. 16, Texas A&M on Feb. 23, Ole Miss on March 2 and Alabama on March 9.

Arkansas plays at Kentucky on Feb. 26.

Five of the Razorbacks’ SEC home games are on Saturday, including the last four Saturdays of the regular season.

Tipoff times and television for the SEC games haven’t been announced.

ASU women unveil nonconference schedule

The Arkansas State University women will face six opponents that appeared in postseason tournaments last season, according to the nonconference schedule released Friday.

ASU will open the season at Oklahoma State on Nov. 9 before hosting Memphis on Nov. 12 for its home opener. November’s schedule also includes games against Louisiana Tech (Nov. 20) and Murray State (Nov. 27) in Jonesboro and at Texas A&M on Nov. 23. December will feature road games at Texas-El Paso (Dec. 1) and Missouri (Dec. 30), as well as home games against Tulsa (Dec. 9) and Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 13).

VOLLEYBALL UALR off to hot start

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock swept North Alabama and Mercer on Friday to open the season at the Jacksonville State Invitational in Jacksonville, Ala.

Mya Robinson had 13 kills with 6 kids and an ace, while Taylor Linberg added 26 assists with 7 digs and 3 kills to lead the Trojans over North Alabama. Robinson also led UALR in the victory over Mercer with 9 kills and 12 digs. Veronica Marin added 8 kills on 11 attempts with 3 blocks, while Carol Barbosa had 4 blocks and 5 kills.

Arkansas State sweeps UAPB

Carlisa May and Timber Terrell had 10 kills each, while Ellie Watkins had 23 assists and Tatum Ticknor added 14 digs to lead Arkansas State University to a sweep over the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Friday in the Memphis Invitational at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

The Red Wolves hit .329 in the match and held UAPB to a -.014 percentage, marking the first time since Nov. 2014 that ASU held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage. The victory also moved the Red Wolves to 23-0 all-time against the Lady Lions.

UAFS starts season with sweep

The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith swept East Central (Okla.) and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Friday to open its season in the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational in San Angelo, Texas.

Rachel Williams had a career-high 17 kills and Anna Demmer added 10, while Taylor Stoops had a team-high 34 assists to lead the Lady Lions over the Lady Tigers. Demmer and Debra Rogers combined for 26 kills in the victory over the Javelinas and Stoops had 30 assists.

OBU wins two matches

Ouachita Baptist University swept its matches Friday at the Alabama-Huntsville Classic in Huntsville, Ala.

Katie Camp had 13 kills and Paige Williams added 8, while Julianna Mack had 9 digs as OBU swept Auburn-Montgomery in the the first match. Adrianna Nolly had 12 kills and two blocks to lead the Tigers to a sweep over LeMoyne-Owen in the second match.

Arkansas Tech earns first-day split

Arkansas Tech University split its matches Friday in the first day of the Peggy Martin Challenge in Warrensburg, Mo., losing the opening match to Central Missouri and sweeping Missouri Southern in its second.

Hunter Eshnaur had 20 digs and 11 kills to lead the Golden Suns in the loss to Central Missouri, while Amanda Milnick had 37 assists, 15 kids and 8 kills. Milnick had 30 assists and added 14 digs to lead Arkansas Tech over Missouri Southern, while Eshnaur added a team-high nine kills.

Harding gets split in Texas

Harding University defeated Texas A&M-Commerce in five sets Friday, then lost to host Tarleton State in a sweep at the Tarleton State Invitational in Stephenville, Texas.

Emily Smith, Madison Poen and Zoe Hardin had 12 kills each in the victory over Texas A&M-Commerce. Poen added 15 digs and Rachel Heussner added 48 assists and 9 digs. Poen had 11 kills and 10 digs in the loss to Tarleton State, while Taylor Lake had 20 digs.

HSU splits matches in Kansas

Henderson State University swept William Jewell 3-0 in its first match of the season Friday, then was swept by Colorado-Colorado Springs in its second match at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kan.

Courtney Boif led the way for the Reddies. She had 11 kills and 17 digs in the victory over William Jewell, then combined with Zuzana Ondruskova for 15 kills and 17 digs in the second match.