Box Score
CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team took advantage of the new look Prince Center, as they opened Southland Conference play and the Sugar Bear Classic with a three-set sweep of Northwestern State. With the addition of risers for the students to stand on in two corners of the gym, a record crowd of 432 saw the Sugar Bears (7-6, 1-0) defeat the Lady Demons (7-4, 0-1) 25-21, 25-12, 25-16.
"The crowd was tremendous," said head coach Steven McRoberts. "The newly built student section brought a lot of energy to the team We need a good crowd Friday night against Memphis."
UCA and NSU were tied five times and switched the lead three times in the first set, but the Sugar Bears pulled away with a 25-21 victory.
UCA hit .371 in the frame and connected on 17 kills. Senior Chloe Smith recorded seven kills and senior Chloe Evans came up with five digs in the frame.
The Sugar Bears dominated the second set with 13 kills and only two errors for a .367 hitting percentage. The third set was no different as UCA hit .345 with 13 kills.
For the match, the Sugar Bears outhit the Lady Demons .362 to .163 and had a 43-30 kills advantage.
"We had a great overall effort tonight," McRoberts said. "It's good to win the first conference match and to hit .362 as a team shows we were doing well in all three phases of our offense."
Smith led UCA with 13 kills and junior Jessica Hays ad kills and seven digs. Freshmen Karlie Giesler and Jessica Nagy had seven kills each and both hit .500 or better. Junior libero Cristin Curl led all players with 18 digs and freshman Marissa Collins recorded 36 assists.
NSU was led by outside hitter Kourtney Adams with 12 kills and 12 digs. Libero Sarah Gillis added 11 digs.
UCA continues the Sugar Bear Classic with Memphis on Friday night at 7 p.m.
