While it took some close sets and lineup adjustments, the No. 19 Arkansas volleyball team earned two victories on Saturday, Aug. 30 to conclude its opening weekend in California 3-0.
The Hogs played Sacramento State in the first match of the day and swept the Hornets 3-0.
They played host Cal Poly for the nightcap and while the Mustangs took the opening set, Arkansas righted the ship for a 3-1 win.
Transfer outside hitter Romani Thurman kept the momentum up after her first match as a Hog and tallied 27 kills, nine blocks and hit .350 over the two Saturday matches.
Fellow hitter Aniya Madkin made her Arkansas debut in the opening match and finished the day with 22 total kills and a .270 hitting percentage.
Senior setter Hannah Hogue was rock solid as always with 20+ assists in each outing, with a double-double against Cal Poly (52 assists, 18 digs).
Arkansas’ middle blockers also contributed heavily on both sides of the ball in both matches.
Sania Petties combined for 23 kills and seven blocks, her 15 against Cal Poly matches her career high. Zoi Evans had 11 kills and five blocks on the day and hit .667.
Senior libero Courtney Jackson anchored the defensive extremely well and registered 35 total digs and had a double-double against Cal Poly with 25 digs and 10 assists.
Arkansas’ first match of the day may have been a sweep, but it was a tight battle between both teams all the way through.
The Hogs surrendered the lead midway through the first set against Sacramento State and trailed by four points at 12-8.
They caught up quickly, but it was still close for the remainder of the set, with two more ties and the teams knotted at 19-19, which sent the Hornets to a timeout.
A few Sac State attack errors put Arkansas up by two shortly after and while the Hornets threatened at the end, an ace by Thurman shut the door on the set 25-22 for the Hogs.
Sac State got out to strong start in the second set, but a few errors and an ace by Jackson pushed Arkansas to a 14-11 advantage.
The Hogs kept the Hornets at bay from there.
Evans and Jada Lawson added two kills apiece and brought the score to 21-17, and Sac State huddled again.
Sac State then got four of the next five points and cut their deficit to one, which sent Arkansas to regroup with a timeout.
