CONWAY, Ark. – Taylor Hammonds hit .520 and had 15 kills to go along with nine blocks and Marissa Collins set a career-high in assists for the second straight match with 61, as the Sugar Bears earned a hard fought 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 15-4) victory over the McNeese State Cowgirls Thursday night at the Prince Center.
UCA (11-9, 6-2) struggled mightily in the first set, as they were guilty of six of their 17 service errors but rebounded down the stretch and used the serve to their advantage in the fifth and final set, posting a side-out percentage of 80 percent, en route to the victory.
With a match that had been neck and neck throughout the evening, UCA jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the final set and Hammonds and Lindsey Barron combined for eight kills down the stretch to seal the win. Barron finished the match with a career-high 17 kills while hitting .371.
Two other Sugar Bears joined Hammonds and Barron with double-digit kills as Jessica Nagy had 16 and freshman Scout Brooks finished with 10. Nagy also recorded a pair of service aces, six digs and four blocks.
Defensively, the Sugar Bears limited the Cowgirl attack to a hitting percentage of just .179. Beth Rogers, manning the libero spot for the second straight match, finished with a match-high 19 digs. Collins added 10 digs to go along with her 61 assists as she recorded her fifth double-double of the 2011 season.
McNeese State (6-15, 1-6) was led by a 17 kill effort by middle blocker Nicole Bowden. Freshman Shaundrea Bolden added 10 kills and hit .500 to go along with three blocks in the losing effort.
The Cowgirls were led defensively by three girls with double-digit dig performances as they held a 58-54 dig advantage over the Sugar Bears. Whitney Ellisor led her team with 18 digs while Katie Kennedy added 11 of her own. Becky Bekelja completed a double-double effort with 10 digs and 41 assists.
With the five-set victory, the Sugar Bears now hold a 5-1 overall record in games that have gone the distance this season.
UCA will attempt to capture their third-straight victory on Saturday when they host Lamar. Coming into action Thursday evening, Lamar sat half a game behind the Sugar Bears in the Southland’s East division. Match time Saturday at the Prince Center is set for noon.
