Arkansas beats Mizzou for 13th straight win

NO. 13 ARKANSAS 3, MISSOURI 1

FAYETTEVILLE — No. 13 Arkansas claimed its 13th straight win of the season with a 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22) win over SEC for Missouri on Sunday afternoon at Barnhill Arena.

The Razorbacks (15-2, 5-0 SEC) bounced back in the third and fourth sets after Missouri took the second set to tie the match 1-1. Arkansas put together a 5-0 spurt to lead 10-4 in the third thanks to a pair of block assists by 6-foot-1 junior Sania Petties. A 7-1 run later in the set gave the Razorbacks firm control with a 20-11 lead en route to the win and 2-1 advantage.

Arkansas grabbed the lead early in the fourth, but had to hold on to close out the match.

The Razorbacks remain second in the SEC, just a halfgame behind No. 12 Tennessee (6-0) and a half-game ahead of No. 22 Kentucky (5-1).

Arkansas Coach Jason Watson said his group had a little false sense of security after never trailing in the opening set.

“The Missouri team that started the season in August is not the Missouri team we see in October because that staff is good and have had some time to have some influence over them,” Watson said. “Those kids work really, really hard. They work hard defensively. And so I thought we had a false sense of how hard we had to work after set one.

“In set two, they got after it and they worked incredibly hard and we didn’t match it,” Watson added. “And then I thought we responded really nicely in set three, and I thought we were pretty good until late in set four where perhaps the schedule catches up with us a little bit. And the day catches up with us a little bit. But what we didn’t want to do is go five. I don’t think it was our best performance to date but certainly it was a gutty performance to get a win.”

Outside hitter Jill Gillen led four Razorbacks in double figures in kills and shared match honors with 15 kills. She was also one of three Arkansas players who registered a double-double. Gillen added 15 digs, while outside Taylor Head chipped in 10 kills and a teambest 16 digs. Right-side hitter Maggie Cartwright enjoyed a nice day with 14 kills and hit .357 to go with 15 digs, 2 aces and 3 blocks. Setter Hannah Hogue also contributed a match-high 47 assists and 10 digs.

Gillen now has 1,803 career kills, good for second on the Razorbacks’ all-time list and first in the current scoring era.

Watson was especially pleased with Cartwright’s effort.

“I thought Maggie was a little bit of the difference today,” Watson said. “We got her the ball quite a bit and she was both efficient and effective out there.”

The Razorbacks, who lead the SEC averaging 2.21 aces, finished with seven in the match. Missouri Coach Dawn Sullivan pointed out Cartwright and the Razorbacks’ serving were keys.

“I thought they served really tough,” Sullivan said. “I think we did a really nice job just slowing down their outsides. I thought their right side [Cartwright] we let go a little bit and that individual gave them enough over time.”

Janet deMarrais, a 6-2 sophomore outside hitter, led the Tigers (10-7, 2-4) with 15 kills and 12 digs. Jordan Iliff, a 6-2 junior right side, chipped in 12 kills and four blocks. Sophomore libero Maya Sands, who leads the SEC averaging 4.60 digs per set, finished with a match-high 24 digs and Morgan Isenberg, one of the top blockers in the league, finished with a match-high six block assists.

Arkansas continues its homestand against Ole Miss on Friday and Alabama on Sunday. The Razorbacks then hit the road for five straight matches in 13 days.

“I don’t think it was our best performance to date but certainly it was a gutty performance to get a win.” Arkansas volleyball Coach Jason Watson