17 for Clark-Bibbs
In back-to-back matches against No. 16 Kentucky and at Alabama, junior Chanell Clark-Bibbs registered a season-high performance with 17 kills. Her matching efforts mark the most kills by an Arkansas middle blocker since the 2010 season when Janeliss Torres-Lopez had 22 kills against South Carolina. For the week, Clark-Bibbs averaged 4.86 kills per set with a .419 hitting percentage. She now has seven matches this season with at least 10 kills and a .333 or higher hitting figure.
Bollinger Continues Climb
With her match-high 19 digs at Alabama, junior libero Monica Bollinger moved into 17th place on the program’s all-time digs list. Through the first 80 matches of her Razorback career, the St. Louis, Mo., native has 698 digs and is averaging 3.99 digs per set this season. During the weekend, Bollinger moved past former standouts Kelli Stipanovich, Amanda Rudolph and Paula Castro on the career list. She is now just two digs shy of becoming the 17th player in program history with 700 career digs.
#DigBabyDig
The Razorback defense tallied 55 digs in the team’s match against No. 16 Kentucky which marks a season high for a three-set match. In the match, junior libero Monica Bollinger led all players with 16 digs while senior Meredith Hays and freshman Kori Ortiz had nine and eight digs, respectively. Six different Razorbacks had at least four digs against UK. Arkansas’ previous best in a three-set match this season was a 51-dig effort against Cleveland State during the Jayhawk Classic.
Hays in NCAA Statistical Rankings
In Monday’s release of national stat rankings, senior Meredith Hays is 14th in the NCAA with 4.58 kills per set and 20th in the nation with 5.05 points per set. She leads the SEC in both categories with nine matches remaining in the 2014 regular season. In her last outing, Hays notched her seventh double-double of the season with 19 kills and 17 digs at Alabama. Hays now has 15 or more kills in 15 of Arkansas’ 22 matches this season.
The Home Crowd
During a busy Homecoming weekend, the Razorback fans made Arkansas Volleyball part of their plans as the team played in front of 1,182 fans in its Oct. 24 match against No. 16 Kentucky. It marked the third home crowd of 1,100 or higher this season at Barnhill Arena. Arkansas has a season-best home crowd of 1,463 which was the figure during the season opener against Tennessee State.
Up Next
The Razorbacks begin the second half of their SEC schedule this weekend beginning Friday with a road match at Mizzou. First serve of that match is set for 6:30 p.m. (CT) at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo. The team returns to its home floor Sunday afternoon when it host LSU at Barnhill Arena. The match is set for a 1:30 p.m. start and will be the second meeting between Arkansas and LSU this season. Both matches will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
Graduation Success Rate Hits Record High
University of Arkansas student-athletes that entered school in the four-year period from 2004-07 earned a school-record graduation success rate (GSR) of 76 percent according to a report released Tuesday by the NCAA. The latest GSR marked the sixth-consecutive rate of more than 70 percent by Razorback student-athletes and the highest since the GSR was first introduced in 1998.
In 2013-14, a total of 112 current or former Razorback student-athletes earned their college degrees from the University of Arkansas. That number marked an 81 percent increase in graduates over the past six academic years. Razorback student-athletes also combined for a program-record cumulative GPA of 3.18.
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