Corpus Christi, Texas – The top-seeded Central Arkansas Sugar Bears looked perfectly comfortable with postseason play on Friday afternoon, taking down the eighth-seeded Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks in straight sets to move on to the second round of the Southland Conference Tournament. It was Central Arkansas' 17^th straight-set victory of the season. Central Arkansas head coach David McFatrich praised the Ladyjacks after the match, saying "You've got to give SFA credit because they played with a lot of heart and soul, which is no surprise because they're a very well coached team. I'd like to congratulate them for making the tournament despite all of the injuries that they've had this year."

Central Arkansas (27-3, 18-0 SLC) hit .236 on the night while holding the Ladyjacks to a percentage of .056.  The Sugar Bears hit .143 to take the first set 25-20, .333 to take the second set 25-19, and .225 to take the third set 25-17. Marissa Collins picked up a double-double for the Sugar Bears, dishing out a match-high 37 assists and digging 13 balls. Heather Schnars stuffed the box for the Sugar Bears, collecting a match-high 12 kills to go along with, seven digs, three blocks, and two aces. "Heather's serve was really on tonight," said McFatrich after the match. "When she's serving like that, she gets so much confidence that she gets to the point where she feels that she can locate her jump serve, which a lot of people can't do. She hit well, and blocked well, but she also passed well, which is something that we've been talking about."



Jessica Nagy was also a force on both sides of the ball, turning in 10 kills and six blocks. Along with Collins, Central Arkansas had two other players reach double-digit digs, as Shelbee Berringer had a match-high 19 and Scout Brooks tallied11. Along with Nagy, Paige Gantar also collected six blocks, and the Sugar Bears, who came into the match averaging 1.77 blocks per set, averaged 4.0 on the night. "I'd like to take credit for the blocks, but I can't," said McFatrich. "I think that we got SFA into some trouble serving, so we could limit where they were setting and key in on those attackers."

Justice Walker and Tori Bates led Stephen F. Austin (16-16, 8-10 SLC) with nine kills apiece, while Paige Holland (14) and Shannon Connell (12) combined for 26 assists. The Ladyjacks got double-digit digs from OJ Olsen (16), Jill Ivy (12), and Madison Martin (11), while Walker led the team with four blocks.

?With the win, Central Arkansas moves on to the second round, where they will face either fourth-seeded Sam Houston State or fifth-seeded Texas-A&M Corpus Christ at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon.