Arkansas

Arkansas splits two matches at Tulsa Volleyball Invitational | Whole Hog Sports

Published

2 years ago

September 13, 2024

Arkansas splits two matches at Tulsa Volleyball Invitational | Whole Hog Sports

No. 22 Arkansas volleyball split two matches at the Tulsa Volleyball Invitational, falling to Tulsa 3-2 (21-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 8-15) on Thursday and beating Stephen F. Austin 3-0 (25-13, 25-13, 25-13) on Friday.

Arkansas will face Miami, Florida International and Texas Tech in the Canes Classic in Miami beginning Sept. 19.

“The weekend in general showed us the need to be clean,” coach Jason Watson said. “We struggled Thursday night. Tonight, Friday, we had some nice production out of our left sides and so, different result.”

The Razorbacks struggled with outside scoring on Thursday and were better in Friday’s win, but that will be an emphasis heading into the Canes Classic at Miami.

Friday’s contest against Stephen F. Austin was a rematch of last season’s NCAA Tournament opener, which Arkansas also won in a 3-0 sweep.

The Razorbacks had a strong defensive outing, only allowing 13 points in each set, and had a balanced scoring effort. Olivia Ruy and Romani Thurman tied for a match-high 14 kills while Aniya Madkin had 13 kills.

The attack, particularly on the left side, was much improved over Thursday’s defeat. That will be an emphasis as Arkansas prepares for its nonconference-closing Miami trip.

“To come back out the next night, with a limited amount of prep, to be able to play the manner in which you try to play every match, I think that was a pretty significant moment for us,” Watson said. “For some young kids in some key spots, they’ve got to learn and they’ve got to grow.”

The Razorbacks fell behind 2-0 against the Golden Hurricane on Thursday before coming back to force a fifth set. Tulsa, Watson said, is a team that plays clean and can make it difficult to rebound from an early deficit.

Tulsa, led by Lauren Eitler’s 21-dig, 10-kill double-double, beat Arkansas 15-8 in the tie-breaking set to give the Razorbacks their first loss of the season.

“You can only do that so many times,” Watson said. “When you get into a fifth set like that, it’s a sprint, not a marathon. They jumped on us pretty good. You want to avoid that as much as you can.

“But there’s some good things. We didn’t roll over, we tried and we battled and we came up short there in the fifth. So there’s some positives from it.”

That improvement — “on-the-job training,” Watson called it — is the focus ahead of the weekend Miami trip and SEC play. The Razorbacks lost several key players from last season’s Elite Eight team and have been integrating newcomers into those spots.

“We’re just learning to be better volleyball players longer,” Watson said. “I think there’s opportunities for them there because they continue to be engaged in learning. I think they’re asking good questions. They’re certainly mindful in the gym, the practice environment.”

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

9 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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