All Hogs

Arkansas' Jason Watson searching after latest defeat to Boston College

Watson: 'At some point, the excuse of youth is irrelevant' after loss in SEC/ACC Challenge
Daniel Shi|
Outside hitter Lolo Lambert against the Boston College Eagles in the SEC/ACC Challenge
Outside hitter Lolo Lambert against the Boston College Eagles in the SEC/ACC Challenge | Arkansas Athletics

In this story:

Arkansas RazorbacksBoston College Eagles

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Boston College Golden Eagles won the final two sets against Arkansas in the SEC/ACC Challenge to hand the Razorbacks their fourth straight loss, 15-12 in the final set.

The Hogs led two sets to one, having won the second and third sets, 25-15 and 25-23.

Boston College took the first and fourth sets 25-23 and 25-15 respectively.

Arkansas held at least a five-point lead at various points in each of the first three sets, and let Boston College back in two separate times, ultimately dropping the first set.

Coach Jason Watson put Friday's 3-0 loss to Cal Poly down to the team's inexperience with only six upperclassmen on the roster, but avoided pinning the loss on the team's youth after the team came up short again.

"These are identical things that have been happening," Watson said. "At some point, the excuse of youth is irrelevant. Those things are just volleyball things."

Arkansas appeared to lose momentum midway through the fourth set, when Boston College won 14 of 17 points from to flip the score in the set from 10-10, to 24-13 in favor of the Eagles.

Watson said postgame that he repeated saw the same mistakes as he has in the other three matches during this losing streak. Arkansas continued to hit the ball right into the block. The Razorbacks' hitting percentage finished the night hitting just .162 and allowed 16 Boston College blocks.

Boston College carried the momentum from the fourth set into the fifth, winning four of the first five points. Middle blocker Cornelia Roach and outside hitter Audrey Ross led the Eagles' offense with 12 kills each to lead the team.

Arkansas outside hitter Lolo Lambert continued to make her mark, starting her second straight match after being inserted in the second set of the Cal Poly match. Lambert and fellow outside hitter Parker Duncan each had 19 kills to lead the Hogs.

Arkansas continued to claw away in the decider, eventually tying the match at 10-10 in the decider with back-to-back points. However, each time an untimely service error halted the Hogs momentum and gifted a free point to the Eagles.

With the Hogs down 13-11, the Razorbacks came out on top in the longest rally of the match, both teams were out of system at different points in the rally before the Hogs put the ball away to trim the gap to one. Boston College used a timeout to try and halt the sudden change in momentum

A few moments later, the 14th and final service error for the Hogs brought up match point for the Eagles, which they converted on the first attempt. Arkansas had 14 service errors to Boston College's nine, another source of frustration for Watson.

"We missed a lot of serves tonight," Watson said. "We lost a ton of them after timeouts. That's what I'm talking about. That can't happen if you expect to win. It drives me nuts."

Arkansas will look to snap its losing streak on the road against Colorado 7 p.m. Friday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

HOGS FEED:

Published
Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

Covers baseball, football and basketball for Arkansas Razorback on SI since 2023, previously writing for FanSided. Currently a student at the University of Arkansas. He’s been repeatedly jaded by the Los Angeles Angels since 2014. Probably silently humming along to whatever the band is playing in the press box. Follow me on X: @dsh12

Home/Hogs News