Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears took to the court at the Farris Center on Friday night looking to extend their winning streak in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament to six straight matches. The Sugar Bears were unable to get anything going on the night however, falling to seventh-seeded Sam Houston State in straight sets.

Central Arkansas (16-13) and Sam Houston (14-17) traded points to open the first set, before a 6-1 run from the Bearkats gave them a 14-9 lead. The Sugar Bears cut the lead to 16-14, but were unable to get any closer, falling 25-18 in the set. UCA hit just .030 in the set, while getting a pair of kills from senior Heather Schnars, junior Rachel Sharp, and sophomore Megan Nash.

The Bearkats jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set, but UCA battle back to cut the lead to 9-7 before a 4-0 run from the Bearkats force a Central Arkansas timeout. Out of the break, the sides traded points again, until the Sugar Bears forced a Sam Houston timeout with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 18-15. For the rest of the set, the teams went point-for-point, with Sam Houston extending its lead to 2-0 in the match with a 25-21 win in the set. Central Arkansas upped its hitting percentage to .174 in the set, and got five kills from Nash, and Schnars added four to her tally, as senior Amy South dished out 14 assist

The third set saw Central Arkansas grap a 6-3 lead to force a time out from the Bearkats. That would prove to be the largest Sugar Bear lead of the night though, as Sam Houston would even the match at 7-7 Central Arkansas would take a 9-7 advantage, before a 6-0 rally from the Bearkats put them ahead 13-7. UCA would battle to within one point, trailing 21-20 late in the set, but Sam Houston completed the sweep with a 25-22 win in the set. Central Arkansas again increased its hitting percentage, bumping it up to .267 in the set, as South passed out 12 more assists. Freshman Samantha Anderson paced the Sugar Bears with six kills in the set and Schanrs picked up five more.

"I want to give credit where credit is completely due," said Jones. "Sam Houston came in here and they took this match. They were extremely aggressive, they were super high-energy, and they brought it. We came in very flat, and I'm not sure why that was. We prepared just as we normally do, but we as a coaching staff and a program have reflect on that and figure out what we're going to do to change it so that we don't have that outcome again."

On the night, Central Arkansas hit .169 and was led by Schnars, who tallied 11 kills and 11 digs for her 14^th double-double of the season. Anderson chipped in with nine kills and three blocks, while South handed out 31 assists and dug eight Bearkat attacks. At the net, Nash picked up five blocks.

"On Monday, Amy was pretty injured, and yesterday was really the first day this week that she was even at fifty percent," said Jones of her setter. "I give her a ton of credit and really appreciate the effort that she gave tonight, because I know how much pain that she's in."