Lake Charles, La. – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears took to the court for their first Southland Conference road match, taking on the McNeese State Cowgirls. The teams played a hotly-contested match with the Cowgirls eventually emerging victorious by a margin of 3-2.

The teams hit an identical .286 in the first set, which saw McNeese State (6-13, 3-3 SLC) take a 1-0 lead behind a 25-21 win in the set. The Sugar Bears (9-10, 5-2 SLC) got five kills from senior Heather Schnars, while fellow senior Amy South dished out 11 assists.

Central Arkansas rebounded in the second set despite hitting just .211. The Sugar Bears took advantage of 21 digs and five total blocks to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 set victory. Freshman Allie Kemp and Schnars each had seven digs, while sophomore Megan Nash had four blocks.

Central Arkansas upped its hitting percentage to .308 in the third, taking the set 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Schnars added six kills to her tally, while South handed out 16 assists.

The fourth set saw the Cowgirls get a 25-23 win to even the match at 2-2. Schnars again led the Sugar Bears, picking up five kills, while freshman Samantha Anderson chipped in with four and freshman Kellen Dunn served up a pair of service aces.

In the decisive fifth set, the teams traded points until a 4-0 run put McNeese up 10-6. The Sugar Bears would get a 5-2 run of their own later in the set to force a McNeese timeout, but were unable to get over the hump, falling 15-12 to drop the match 3-2.

On the night, the Sugar Bears got double-doubles from Schnars (22 kills, 20 digs) and South (52 assists, 14 digs), while Nash and junior Fulani Petties added nine kills each. Kemp ended up with 26 digs, and Nash had seven blocks on the night.

The Sugar Bears return to action on Saturday, taking on Nicholls at noon in Thibodaux, La.