Arkansas welcomed their highest-ranked home opener opponent in program history on Friday and made the most of the challenge.
The Hogs defeated the No. 8 Washington Huskies, 3-1, on Friday night. This is his highest ranked win since his No. 5 Florida in 2007 and his first top 10 win since 2015.
Head coach Jason Watson said, “When I first came in, I was a little worried about not having the time I needed to prepare. Especially in the fourth set, they were running at us, and it was a little bit challenging there, but in the end I thought it was really mature volleyball, and I think it’s a really mature volleyball game.”
Jr. Taylor Head completed Arkansas’ first double-double of the season with 16 kills and 10 digs. Seniors Jill Gillen and Maggie Cartwright both had 14 kills each, and Cartwright’s batting average was . Graduate student Hailey Dirrigl had his nine kills and posted his second-highest .444 of the night.
Arkansas benefited greatly from playing two setters on the night. Veteran Gracie Ryan tallied 23 assists and 10 digs, while sophomore Hannah Hoag also tallied 10 digs and a career-high her 31 assists.
352 to . 245 over the Huskies, had seven aces, and doubled Washington on blocks, going 12 to 6. The win gave Arkansas an all-time series lead at 2–1 in the first matchup between his two teams since 2004.
The Razorbacks will face the Huskies in the series finale on Saturday at 4pm at Barnhill Arena. The match will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.
Match tickets are available online, by phone, or at the door.
set 1
The two teams battled closely to start the night, but two kills from Dirigle and an ace from Gillen gave the Hogs a three-point lead at 8–5. Arkansas held the lead from there and he led by as many as six points thanks to Gillen’s second Ace of the Night. The Huskies called timeouts on his 19–13 run, but Hoggs didn’t give up and college-transferred Tatum extended his lead by nine points from the Sheeps’ ace. Washington scored another five points, but Cartwright’s kill closed the set at 25-18 for the home team.
set 2
The Huskies took an early lead in the second set, but Gillen’s kill and another ace pushed them to a 7-7 lead. Ships added his second ace to make him 9-9, but the Huskies took the lead from there and didn’t give up. Arkansas were threatened in the second half with a Cartwright kill to get within three, but Washington evened the game with a 25-20 victory.
set 3
Washington scored the first two points of the third set, but Arkansas got revenge, scoring six straight points, including kills for Cartwright and Gillen, causing Washington to time out. The Hogs gave the Huskies no room to breathe and didn’t allow them to score more than three points at once. A kill from Heads ended and Washington went to the huddle again. The Huskies also pushed and crossed the 20-point threshold, but Gillen’s kill and Washington’s offensive error closed the door to a 25-20 set victory.
set 4
The fourth and final sets were tied at eight, until the Hogs scored three straight points, sparked by a Cartwright kill and an ace from sophomore libero Courtney Jackson. Following Washington’s timeout, the Huskies added his 3 points, but kills on Head and Gillen and his fourth ace on Gillen in many sets pushed the lead to his 17-12. . The Heads again overtook the Razorbacks by 20 points, giving Arkansas a 7-point lead. Just two points away from winning the game, the Huskies posted a three-point run to make it 23-21. Arkansas called time to regroup and block from the break. Washington responded with kills, but Gillen took down the 14th of the night to seal a 25-18 win.
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