Arkansas outlasts No. 9 Florida in five sets

Arkansas' Adrien Wohlschlaeger (14) and Breana Jones try to block a kill by Florida's Ziva Recek Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015, at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.
Arkansas' Adrien Wohlschlaeger (14) and Breana Jones try to block a kill by Florida's Ziva Recek Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015, at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas volleyball team kept its recent momentum going Sunday with a monumental 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 25-19, 18-25, 18-16) victory over No. 9 Florida.

The Razorbacks (13-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) notched their fifth consecutive win and closed out the fifth set on their fifth match point in front of 1,251 fans in Barnhill Arena.

Florida (9-4, 1-3 SEC) turned back four match points in the fifth set. But Arkansas scored consecutive points to send Florida to its third consecutive loss for the first time since Gators coach Mary Wise took over in 1990.

Arkansas coach Robert Pulliza was pleased with his team's effort, but acknowledged the Razorbacks didn't play great. But he also thought his team was almost trying too hard at times against the defending SEC champions.

"It's another exciting five-set win," Pulliza said. "I didn't feel like we played great. I felt we played good. It's a great win. Any win in this league is a great win. At times we lost focus and that's when we went to just a string of errors. We played like we cared very much all match.

"But when you care very much, you've got to manage your want. And at times we just wanted it too much and lost our heads a little bit."

Wise, who has led Florida to a national best 751 wins since 1991, left the arena without comment.

Arkansas rode the 1-2 punch of outside hitter Pilar Victoria and senior middle hitter Chanell Clark-Bibbs offensively. Victoria finished with a match-high 21 kills, while Clark-Bibbs added 17 kills and a team-high five block assists.

The Razorbacks struggled with consistency as they took the first and third sets behind some solid attacking, but dropped the second and fourth sets thanks in part to a combined 19 attacking errors.

Clark-Bibbs said the Razorbacks' struggles in the second and fourth sets were somewhat self-inflicted and that's often been the case when they have struggled.

"I think when we get in those situations, it's always the same case," Clark-Bibbs said. "It's us doing it to ourselves. Never what the other team is doing to us, because we know what they are going to do. When we get in those situations, we get quiet. We get tentative on our own island. It's kind of what puts us in a big hole with other teams."

But Pulliza said his team kept its composure in the fifth set as Florida rallied from a 14-12 deficit, then tied it at 15 and 16 before Arkansas pulled out the win. The win was the first over the Gators since 2007 and snapped a 14-match losing streak.

"We were just talking about staying in the moment," Pulliza said. "I think I called timeout at 13-11. What I told them is 'Hey, we're starting to think about winning here. The moment you start thinking about winning, you sink quicker than quick. Just immerse yourself in this environment right now. Just enjoy it and let it take us where it takes us and it took us where it to us to a 'W.'"

Florida had four different players reach double digits in kills led by 6-1 junior right-side hitter Alex Holston with 16. But the Gators struggled with 14 service errors and Arkansas countered with seven aces.

Arkansas is now one of three teams still undefeated in the SEC and it will take on another Wednesday evening. The Razorbacks hit the road to face No. 21 Kentucky.

Paul Boyd can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAPaulb.

Sports on 10/05/2015

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