Hogs Swept by Bulldogs in Starkville Series Opener

Arkansas’ first road series of the season began on Saturday afternoon, but the home team came away victorious as the Bulldogs handed the No. 23 Razorbacks their third loss of the year, and first in straight sets.

The Hogs are now 1-2 in SEC play and 10-3 overall on the season. Mississippi State moves to 9-4 and 2-1 in conference play.

The two teams will meet for the series finale in Starkville on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The match will be televised live nationally on ESPNU.

Set 1
Arkansas briefly claimed a 3-2 lead early in the first set, but it didn’t last long. The Bulldogs then went on a 9-2 run to get the advantage and kept it all the way from there. Arkansas couldn’t string together more than a couple of points at a time to close the gap, and once the Hogs did find a three-point streak, it wasn’t enough. Mississippi State scored five of the next seven points for a 22-15 lead, and Arkansas didn’t have an answer. The Bulldogs closed the set with a kill for the 25-19 victory, the Hogs’ only first set loss of the season.

Set 2
The second set was tight to start between the two teams, but Arkansas found a way to get ahead by one four times early on. The Hogs extended the lead to two off kills from Abigail Archibong and Jill Gillen and got to 10 first. The Razorbacks got five of the next eight points after that, which included an ace from Gracie Ryan, for the 15-11 edge at the media timeout. The Bulldogs answered with four straight to tie it, but the Hogs held on at 20-18. Mississippi State then came blazing back with a five-point run and went up 23-20. The Razorbacks tacked on just one from there and the Bulldogs ended the set with back-to-back kills for a 25-21 win.

Set 3
The Hogs tied the set at three-all in the third, but that’s as close as the Hogs were able to come to the home team from there. The two traded points, but the Bulldogs broke away with six straight to double up a 16-8 lead. Arkansas later cut the lead to five but couldn’t get any further than that. Two kills and a block finished things off 25-17 in favor of the Bulldogs for the match sweep.

More Information
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