Four Razorbacks, Watson Garner Regional Honors
As Arkansas volleyball continues its historic run this season, four Razorbacks and head Hog Jason Watson have been named American Volleyball Coaches Association honorees, the organization announced on Tuesday.
All-SEC honorees Jill Gillen, Taylor Head and Hannah Hogue were tabbed All-South Region, and Maggie Cartwright was named All-South Region honorable mention. Gillen and Head are repeat winners, while it’s the first for Hogue and Cartwright. Jason Watson was named AVCA South Region Coach of the Year for the first time in his Arkansas tenure, and just the second time for any Arkansas ever, the last being Chris Poole in 1997.
An outside hitter from Stilwell, Kan., Jill Gillen is having her best season yet in her fifth year at Arkansas. Gillen currently leads the team in kills (493), kills per set (4.18), aces (50) and aces per set (0.42), all of which are also new single season personal highs for her. This season she officially became the program all-time ace leader, took over second place in program career kills with over 2,000, the most in the current scoring era, and entered the program top five in digs. Gillen currently has 2,041 kills total, which also places her in fifth in SEC history, a list that has only had two additions in the last five years. The regional honor is the fourth for Gillen.
Senior Taylor Head has also soared to new heights in 2023 and has set new highs for herself in nearly every statistical category to easily make her case for the third regional honor of her career. Her 471 kills this season have gained her entry into the program top five with 1,514 total, and she also checks in right behind Gillen in career digs at No. 6 with 1,239. Head’s versatility has been crucial for the Hogs this season as she’s registered 20 double-doubles, the most in a single season for any Razorback since 2001. Head has a total of 58 double-doubles in her career, which places her in second in program history. In Arkansas’ 32 matches on the season, Head has 10+ kills in 30 of them and 10+ digs in 20.
Junior setter Hannah Hogue continues to be the anchor for the Arkansas offense in her first season as the team’s primary setter. Hogue is currently putting up 11.29 assists per set, which is good for fifth in the nation. She was named All-SEC for the first time in her career for her efforts last month and was tabbed SEC Setter of the Week five times throughout the regular season. She surpassed 1,000 career assists early on in this season’s campaign and is already coming up close on 2,000 at 1,966, which places her in ninth place on the program career list. Hogue has also been a stronghold at the service line for Arkansas with 0.42 per set, 49 total, which is second on the team and in the SEC.
Graduate opposite hitter Maggie Cartwright has earned her first all-region honorable mention selection in 2023 as she continues to provide a boost for Arkansas on both sides of the ball. She’s set a new career single season high in kills with 337, which included her 1,000th overall in September. Cartwright is the 19th member of the Arkansas 1,000-kill club and has moved into 14th on the career list over the course of the season with 1,250. Maggie has made ever touch count, as she leads Arkansas’ hitters in efficiency at .277. Cartwright has also provided a spark for Arkansas on defense several times throughout the season with 10 matches with 10+ digs and a career high 25 at Western Kentucky on Sept. 8.
Jason Watson now has two postseason accolades to his name as the South Region Coach of the Year and SEC Co-Coach of the Year. The honors are well-deserved as Watson has piloted the Hogs to levels not seen by the program in two decades. Watson led the Razorbacks to a second-place finish in the SEC at 15-3, the best since 2003. Arkansas has now had back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2002-2003 under Watson, and has its most wins since 2003 as the Hogs head into regional play at 27-5. His success during the regular season saw the Razorbacks reach their-best ever coaches poll ranking at No. 8, best-ever RPI ranking at No. 7, and five weeks ranked inside the top 10.
The hard work has culminated to a top three national seed for Arkansas in postseason play, which brought the NCAA Tournament back to Barnhill Arena for the first time since 2006. The Razorbacks swept Stephen F. Austin in the first round last weekend, the first tournament victory in the building since 2002, and defeated TCU in four sets the following day. Watson’s 2023 squad is just the second Arkansas team to ever reach the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament, and the first since 1998.
Up Next
The Hogs begin regional action on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT with a conference rematch versus the Kentucky Wildcats in Lincoln, Neb. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPNU. The winner will face the winner of Nebraska/Georgia Tech in the regional final on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m.
More Information
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