Conway – The Central Arkansas volleyball team returned to the court for the first time in 12 days on Thursday night, welcoming defending Southland Conference Tournament Champion Northwestern State to the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears started off slowly, but managed to put away the Lady Demons in straight sets.

In the first set, neither team was able to create separation until late, as Central Arkansas (13-10, 9-2 SLC) used a 5-1 run to take the set by a score of 25-21. The Sugar Bears hit .333 in the set, led by senior Heather Schnars, who hit .462 on her way to seven kills.

"I don't know that the slow start had so much to do with us having all that time off in the middle of the season, as much as it was that we were overexcited to be back at home," said Central Arkansas coach Jeni Jones after the match. "I was pleased to see that we were able to cut down on our unforced errors; for the most part it was just a lack of communication. Once we remembered how to do that, we were able to finish out the set."

Central Arkansas raced out to a 6-2 lead in the second set before forcing a Northwestern State (6-20, 4-9 SLC) timeout while leading 11-6. The break did nothing to slow the Sugar Bears down, as they cruised to a 25-14 win to push their lead to 2-0 in the match. Central Arkansas hit a blistering .700 in the set, getting six kills from freshman Samantha Anderson and four from sophomore Megan Nash.

In the third set, it was the Lady Demons who got the early run, taking a 10-5 lead to force a Central Arkansas timeout. The Sugar Bears exploded out of the break, going on a 6-0 run to force a timeout from Northwestern. The sides traded points, until UCA went on a 6-1 run to close out the match and complete the sweep. Central Arkansas hit .250 for the set, but limited the Lady Demons to an attack percentage of .000 thanks with five blocks from Nash and three from Anderson.

"They came out with a lot of energy in the set, and we had some miscommunication and unforced errors, but we were able to go to our players and ask them to step up, and they responded, which is great to see," said Jones.

On the night, Central Arkansas hit .390, getting hitting percentages of at .400 from Schnars, Nash, Anderson, and freshman Nicole Peters. Senior Amy South keyed a Central Arkansas offense that got double-digit kills from Schnars (13), Nash (12), and Anderson (10), dishing out a match-high 37 assists while adding seven digs. Freshman Allie Kemp tallied a match-high 13 digs, while Nash picked up a match-high five blocks.

"I think that Amy is doing a great job of running our offense," said Jones of the Sugar Bears' team-wide offensive success. "We aren't just a one-hit wonder; we have a diverse offense, which is great because it makes it so hard for teams to defend us."

Central Arkansas wraps up the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, hosting Stephen F. Austin at noon. The Sugar Bears will honor the careers of seniors Schnars, South, and Corri Hunt, who will be taking the court at the Prince Center for the final time. "It's going to be a tough match, they've been playing everybody well and it will be our first time seeing each other this season. We're glad to have this match at home. Our players know that it's a big match, with it being homecoming and everything else, and they're excited to get to play those guys."