FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas volleyball returned to Barnhill Arena for the first time in two weeks on Sunday and made quick work of the Alabama Crimson Tide as the Hogs registered their second home sweep in a row.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Aniya Madkin continued to make a big impact as she led Arkansas with 15 kills on the day, the sixth straight match leading the Hogs. Sophomore Romani Thurman was not far behind with 11 kills and just one error for a .476 hitting percentage.
Senior setter Hannah Hogue tallied her 12th double-double of the season with 35 assists and 11 digs, and she also contributed one kill and two block assists.
A total of 2,543 fans showed up to Barnhill on Sunday, a new season high for Arkansas and the ninth-best attended match in program history.
Set 1
Arkansas limited Alabama to one point at a time early in the opening set while the Hogs strung together a couple of extended runs that put them up 12-8. The Tide called time but the Razorbacks kept their foot on the gas and got three more unanswered points, capped off by a solo block from Zoi Evans. Alabama cut the deficit to four, but Arkansas was the first to 20 off a block from Hogue and Evans and held on from there. The Hogs closed the set with three straight points for a 25-17 victory and went up 1-0 in the match.
Set 2
In the same way the Hogs kept any Tide opportunities at bay in the first, Alabama flipped the script on Arkansas in the second and quickly went up 11-7. The Razorbacks huddled but couldn’t get anything going as the Tide kept coming and extended their lead to 15-8. The deficit continued with the Hogs down by seven as the Tide hit 20, but Arkansas began to battle back and came within five off a kill from Madkin. After Alabama got one back, Kylie Weeks took the service line and settled in with a stellar service run that suddenly put the Hogs within reach, and an Evans solo block tied it at 22-all. The Tide took a timeout, but had no answer for the Razorbacks as they added three more for a final 9-0 run that finished the set 25-22 for Arkansas.
Set 3
The third set was tight to start, but Arkansas chipped away steadily and used a pair of points to grab a 13-9 lead. Alabama added two of its own, but the Hogs answered with four more to push the advantage to 17-11, which prompted an Alabama timeout. Avery Calame delivered a service ace out of the break to extend the lead, and a kill from Olivia Ruy made it 20-14 Hogs shortly after. The Tide huddled again, but ran out of time for any comeback as a setter dump from Hogue pushed it to match point and a final Madkin kill made it 25-16 and sealed the match sweep.
Up Next
Arkansas heads to the Lone Star State for a pair of conference matches this week. First up is No. 7 Texas in Austin on Friday at 8 p.m., the first SEC match-up between the two teams and first meeting since 2000. The Hogs then head to College Station for a Sunday matinee match with Texas A&M at 2 p.m. Both will be streamed live on SEC Network+.