Arkansas volleyball lets second set slip in loss to No. 9 Texas

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas was two points from a 2-0 lead on the No. 9 team in the country Friday night.

Texas won that set 29-27. Then it won the next two.

The Razorbacks lost 3-1 at Barnhill Arena after taking the opener 25-22. The last two sets went 25-20 and 25-19.

The Hogs are 8-7 overall and still looking for an SEC win at 0-4.

Arkansas volleyball hit .281, which is its best number in a league match this year and its highest since Sept. 18.

Good hitting night. Same result as the other three conference matches.

Texas had a big run waiting in the second and third sets, and Arkansas didn’t have one to send back.

Second set gets away

Arkansas led 8-5 after three straight points. A Madi Benne ace made it 11-7.

A Texas service error and a Parker Duncan kill had it at 15-11 by the technical timeout.

The Longhorns went on a 7-3 run to tie it at 18. Arkansas called timeout.

The Razorbacks got the lead back, and a Romani Thurman kill made it 22-20.

Texas called time. Whatever got said in that huddle, it worked.

There were six set points before the Longhorns ended it with two kills in a row.

A 2-0 lead turned into a 1-1 match against a top-10 team that suddenly felt pretty good about itself.

Longhorns pull away late

The third set was close early. Layla Smith had a kill and a solo block to put the Hogs up 11-9.

Maggie McCarroll dumped one over to keep Arkansas ahead by a point at the technical timeout.

Texas scored seven of the next eight. That made it 21-16.

The Razorbacks got back within two. The Longhorns scored the last three.

The fourth was over quick. Texas led 8-2, then 15-7 at the break, and Arkansas was getting a point or two at a time.

Laci Bohannan had three kills and Thurman had one in a four-point Hogs run. Texas closed it out 25-19 anyway.

The first set looked nothing like that. A Duncan kill started a 3-0 run that put Arkansas up 14-10, and it got to 20 first on a Texas error.

The Longhorns got within two late. Smith ended it with a kill.

McCarroll delivers in first start

McCarroll, a freshman from Austin, started at setter for the first time. She had 50 assists and 11 digs, plus two aces, two blocks and a kill.

That’s the most assists by a Razorbacks freshman setter since Rachel Rippee in 2016. Not bad for a debut against the school from her hometown.

Duncan had 19 kills, hit .242 and added nine digs.

Bohannan had 13 kills and hit .344. Smith had 12 without an error and hit .429. Those were season highs for both.

The Hogs outblocked Texas 12-3. Smith had seven and Thurman had six.

Benne and Gaby Cornier had 18 digs each.

The crowd was 2,727, the biggest at Barnhill since last September and the 10th-largest in program history.

Texas A&M up next

It doesn’t get easier. No. 12 Texas A&M, the reigning national champion, comes to Barnhill on Sunday as the four-match homestand continues.

First serve is at noon on SEC Network with John Roethlisberger and Kele Eveland calling it.