Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team opened the WKU Tournament with a four-set loss to Virginia Tech on Friday morning at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Hokies (6-1) topped the Sugar Bears (5-4) 25-23, 25-23, 24-26, 25-14.

Down 23-14 in the first set, the Sugar Bears went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 23-22. During that stretch, sophomore middle blocker Taylor Hammonds had two kills and a pair of blocks. The Hokies took the frame 25-23, after a kill by freshman Samantha Gostling and a UCA error.

The Sugar Bears led 22-19 in the second frame, but VT was able to win the game 25-23 with a 6-2 run, including two kills from junior outside hitter Justine Record.

UCA rebounded with a 26-24 victory in the third set, which saw eight ties and three lead changes. The Hokies ended the match with a 25-14 fourth set.

For the match, VT outhit UCA .248 to .122 and had a 57-41 advantage in kills. The Sugar Bears outblocked the Hokies 13-11.

Cara Baarendse paced VT with 19 kills and hit .531 to go with 10 digs. Felicia Willoughby hit .368 with 10 kills and five total blocks. Amy Wengrenovich had 12 digs and Erin Leaser recorded 39 assists.

Senior right side Chloe Smith came up with 11 kills for UCA. Freshman middle Jessica Nagy added nine kills and hit .421 with four blocks. Hammonds also had nine kills and tied her career high with seven total blocks, four of which were solo. Junior Jessica Hays had eight kills and 12 digs.

UCA will continue the tournament when they take on Tennessee Tech at 4:30 p.m. Friday.