Arkansas Volleyball goes 3-0 in Colorado

Arkansas headed out west for a three game road trip in Fort Collins and they came away with three wins in as many games as Arkansas didn’t drop a single set in Colorado.

Game one was against the host team Colorado State on Thursday where they were taken to extra points in the first set which they came out on top 29-27 after an ace by Courtney Jackson and finished off by a kill by Senior Jill Gillen. After that first set it was total domination by Arkansas as they went on to outscore Colorado State by a combined 50-27 in the next two sets to win 3-0. Gillen lead the team with 14 kills and also had 8 digs on the night. Taylor Head recorded another double double finishing with 12 digs and 11 kills. Graduate Tatum Shipes had six blocks and senior Maggie Cartwright also had six block assists. The Hogs had 12 blocks total on the night. Shipes also added four kills.

In game two for the Hogs was Alabama State which the Hogs handled 3-0 and one of their best outings of the season. Breaking new team records in hit percentage and not having one player with more than one error in the match set the tone as they won 25-13,25-10, and 25-15. Gillen led the way for Arkansas with a career high hit percentage of .714 and also had 9 kills and 0 errors. Maggie Cartwright had 9 kills and 0 errors as well. Arkansas got to see some new faces on the rotation as Zoi Evans, Jada Lawson and Rosana Hicks got in on the fun and had a combined 5 kills, 3 blocks, and 3 block assists.

The final game of the weekend had Arkansas matched up against Florida Gulf Coast and it was third verse same as the first with Arkansas winning in 3 sets 25-14, 25-17, and 25-23. Cartwright led the way this time around with 11 kills and 4 digs. Hannah Hogue recorded a double double with 19 assists and 13 digs. The Sophomore from Fort Smith Southside also had 3 aces in the match.

Jill Gillen made history against FGCU moving into the top ten in career kills. Gillen has a total of 1,276 and the first time a player has cracked the top ten in the last ten seasons. Along with the kills she also had 4 aces and 8 digs on the day.

Up next Arkansas welcomes Little Rock, Florida International and Colorado to Barnhill Arena next weekend for the Arkansas Invitational. The Hogs take on UALR on Friday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. and FIU at 7:30 p.m., and resume action with Colorado on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m.