FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' 2019 games against conference foes from Mississippi are among changes announced this week by the Southeastern Conference for the 2019 schedules for all 14 teams.
Arkansas is scheduled to open the 2019 season at home against Portland State from the Football Championship Subdivision. The second game will begin the team's SEC schedule on the road at Ole Miss. The Razorbacks have met the Rebels in October or November every year since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992.
Other home games include Colorado State, San Jose, Auburn, Mississippi State and Western Kentucky before the Razorbacks finish the season with Missouri at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Colorado State and San Jose are scheduled for Sept. 14 and Sept. 21, respectively, before Arkansas meets Texas A&M on Sept. 28 at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Other road games include Kentucky, Alabama and LSU. The matchup with the Wildcats will be the first for the Razorbacks since 2012 and their first trip to Lexington since 2008.
All four non-conference games will be played in Fayetteville as Arkansas hosts Western Kentucky on Nov. 9, breaking up the Hogs' usual late-season SEC slate. The 2019 season will mark the first time Arkansas will play Portland State, San Jose State and Western Kentucky in school history.
The changes move the Mississippi State game to Nov. 2, about three weeks earlier than the teams usually meet. The LSU game will also be moved back to Nov. 23, a week before the season finale with Missouri.
Fountain Lake downs
Mayflower in straight sets
FOUNTAIN LAKE -- Fountain Lake's volleyball team earned a three-set victory on Tuesday against Mayflower in non-conference actions.
The Lady Cobras (10-3, 2-0 3A-South) outlasted Mayflower (5-4, 4-2) in three closely contested sets, 25-21, 25-18, 25-15.
Junior libero Erin Graves had 13 service points and led the team with 10 digs. Freshman setter Sophie Skinner made 34 assists to go with seven digs.
Junior Emoree Martin had nine kills and eight digs. Sophomore Carena Bledsoe hit eight kills and made two blocks.
* The junior varsity team also won in straight sets, 25-14, 25-16. Sophomore Gabrella Gonyer led the way with 11 service points and seven kills.
The junior Lady Cobras outlasted Mayflower in three sets, 16-25, 28-26, 15-7. Jocelyn Brown and Jordan Lancaster each had 15 service points.
Junior Rams make finals
of Conway volleyball tourney
CONWAY -- Lakeside's junior high volleyball team advanced to the final of a tournament Saturday in Conway.
North Little Rock took the final match, 25-23, 25-20, as Lakeside finished the tournament as the Silver Bracket runner-up.
The Rams began pool play with two-set victories against Mayflower and North Little Rock before falling in two sets against Jonesboro Westside. They defeated Beebe in the first round of Silver Bracket play before outlasting Benton 8 in three sets, 20-25, 25-11, 15-12, in the semifinals.
Lakeside took another three-set win on Monday at home against Malvern, 20-25, 25-13, 15-6.
The Rams were led by Sarah Porter with 10 service points, two aces, one solo block and five kills. Abbie Thomas and Libby Divers each had three kills and one solo block, while Mady Davenport hit three kills.
Kaitlyn Threadgill made 18 digs. Divers finished with 11 digs.
* Lakeside's eighth-grade team competed in a ninth-grade tournament on Saturday in Mena. The Rams fell in two sets to the host team to start before splitting two sets with Booneville. They split the last match of pool play, 14-25, 25-12, with Jessieville. They were eliminated in the first round of bracket play, 25-15, 14-25, 15-13, by Waldron.
The eighth-grade team also took a two-set victory, 25-3, 25-11, against Malvern on Monday.
Threadgill led the team with 17 service points, including seven aces. Olivia Porter and Olivia Krauss each added seven service points apiece.
Reddies take 8th at NSU Classic
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- Henderson State's men's golf team shot a 5-under-par 279 as a team on Tuesday to jump six spots and finish in a tie for eighth place at the 20th annual Northeastern State Golf Classic.
Henderson's 279 was the second-best round of the day by anyone in the 18-team field, and helped the Reddies finish with a three-round score of 6-over 858. Last week at The Mule Invitational, Henderson shot 8-under 272 in the final round, which was the best 18-hole score for any team on either day.
Nick Shapiro and Cameron McRae set the tone for the Reddies on Tuesday. Shapiro shot 4-under 67, tying the best round of the event for any Henderson golfer and clinching his best score of the season thus far, while McRae rebounded from a 78 in the second round on Monday with a 3-under 68. Both had five birdies on the day. Mitchell Ford and Trey DePriest each carded scores of 1-over 72, while Kevin Boutier finished with a 6-over 77.
Ford was Henderson's highest individual finisher, as he shot 3-under 210 for three rounds and wound up in a tie for 10th place overall. Shapiro ended in a tie for 17th place with a score of 1-under 212, while McRae tied for 50th, and Boutier and DePriest each tied for 70th. Kasoma Paulino, who played as an individual, shot a 2-over 73 on Tuesday to finish with Shapiro in a tie for 17th place.
Lindenwood won the tournament with a record score of 21-under 831.
Ford earned a nomination for Great American Conference Men's Golfer of the Week. Arkansas Tech freshman Francois Jacobs won this week's award after winning at Northeastern by three shots. Northwestern Oklahoma State's Tyler Berryhill was also nominated after placing second in the 2018 Ranger Invite in Enid, Okla.
The Reddies' next tournament is scheduled for Oct. 1-2, when they host The Battle for the Belt at the Hot Springs Country Club.
Jones era begins with win
for OBU women's tennis
CONWAY -- Ouachita Baptist's women's tennis team earned its first victory of the season on Saturday with a 9-0 sweep against Hendrix College.
The victory marked the Tigers' first win of the Rachel Jones era and the 2018-19 tennis season.
The No. 2 doubles team of Haylee Cannon, of Denison, Texas, and Taylor Hansard, of Fort Stockton, Texas, won 8-2. The No. 3 tandem of Claire Phillips, from Midlothian, Texas, and Lindsay Gills, from Fort Smith, picked up an 8-1 victory. The top doubles tandem of seniors Mallry Tabler, of Bentonville, and Kendra Dinsmore, of Rogers, put Ouachita up three games heading into singles action.
Tabler and Dinsmore set the tone for singles play, with each earning straight-set wins in their respective draws. Cannon followed suit in the No. 3 singles match, blanking her opponent 6-0, 6-0. Cannon's win clinched the match for the Tigers, but the entire team made sure a clean sweep happened in their first competition of the season.
Hansard, Gills and Phillips closed out the match with straight-set victories over their competition at the No.4-6 positions.
The Tigers' next competition will be Friday and Saturday at the Great American Conference Individual Championships.
OBU baseball finalizes
staff for 2019 season
ARKADELPHIA -- Ouachita head baseball coach Luke Howard has announced the hiring of assistant coach Mark Hendricks.
"When I accepted this job, Mark was one of the first people I called to gauge his interest in embarking on this new journey," Howard said. "I am very excited that he decided to embrace the opportunity and accept the job.
"We are lucky to have someone with his knowledge and work ethic in our baseball program. I believe with the addition of Mark we have a coaching staff that is well-rounded and will mesh well together to keep this baseball program moving in the right direction."
Hendricks is a 2017 graduate of King University in Bristol, Tenn. During his playing days as a Tornado, Hendricks recorded six career wins, five complete games, 115.1 innings pitched and 82 strikeouts.
In the summer of 2017, Hendricks played in the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League and was named Reliever of the Year after his team won the championship. Hendricks posted a 6-0 record, with a 1.91 era and a save in 47 innings.
Hendricks made his professional debut with the Norman Cornbelters of the Frontier League this summer. Hendricks posted a 2.86 era in 37 2/3 innings.
Hendricks is originally from Fortson, Va. He will serve as the pitching coach for the Tigers.
Arkansas' Kim third
at Annika Intercollegiate
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Arkansas senior Dylan Kim posted three rounds under par to finish third while leading the Razorback women's golf team to a sixth-place finish Wednesday at the Annika Intercollegiate presented by 3M.
Kim shot rounds of 67, 68 and 70 against one of the toughest fields in college golf. She carded a final round 2-under 70 with three birdies on the back nine to finish with a total of 205. She played the second side of the Royal Golf Club 7-under over for three rounds.
Redshirt freshman Brooke Matthews finished tied for 21st with rounds of 71, 71 and 73 for a 215 final score. She was followed by senior Maria Fassi, who tied for 25th overall shooting a three-day total of 216. Senior Kaylee Benton and junior Grace St. German each tied for 37th at 220.
The Razorbacks finished sixth against a field that featured eight of the top 10 teams in the nation. Arkansas finished just two shots out of fifth and five behind the top four at 852 for a second consecutive tournament under par.
Arkansas was one of two teams to record three eagles at the event, hit by Fassi, Matthews and Kim. Kim counted 15 birdies over three rounds.
Alabama won the event with a 28-under-par team score of 836.
Sports on 09/20/2018