Conway – The Central Arkansas volleyball team is set for a pair of road matches this week, as the Sugar Bears will face off with the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks at 6:30 PM tonight, before taking on the Sam Houston State Bearkats at 2:00 PM on Saturday.

Central Arkansas (10-11, 4-5 SLC) is coming off of matching 3-0 wins over Southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans at the Prince Center last week. Sophomore Haley Tippett was named the Southland Conference's Offensive Player of the Week for her play in the two matches, when she hit .435 on 46 attempts while averaging 3.83 kills per. Tippett recorded just three errors on the week, a number that she equaled from the service line with three aces. On the year, Central Arkansas has the second-best attack percentage in the league at .204, while limiting its opponents to a.197 clip, a number which is good for sixth in the SLC. The Sugar Bears average 12.29 kills and 2.26 blocks per set, both of which rank fourth in the league, while UCA's 1.41 aces per set are good for second-most in the Southland. Individually, junior Megan Nash ranks fifth in the league with a .296 attack percentage and sixth with 1.06 blocks per set, while Tippett sits fifth in the Southland with an average of 0.32 aces per set and 11^th with 2.76 kills. Freshman Elizabeth Armstrong ranks seventh with an average of 8.56 assists per set, while sophomore Amanda Dimon sits 11^th with an average of 3.24 digs per set.

Stephen F. Austin (12-8, 5-2 SLC) is coming off of a 3-2 loss to Abilene Christian. The 'Jacks are hitting .176 this season, good for seventh in the Southland, but limit their opponents to a .178 clip, which is third-lowest in the league. SFA leads the league with 18.03 digs per set and ranks second at 2.36 blocks, while sitting sixth in both kills (11.73) and assists (10.96). Junior Abbie McIntyre leads the SFA attack, averaging 2.61 kills per set, while freshman KK Payne chips in 2.10 kills. Freshman Ann Hollas keys the attack, passing out 7.80 assists per set this year. Defensively, SFA features a pair of the Southland's best. Junior Lexus Cain leads the league and ranks fifth nationally with an average of 5.38 digs per set, while senior Justice Walker is a force at the net, ranking second in the league in blocks with an average of 1.21 per set. The Sugar Bears are the only current Southland Conference member to hold a winning record against Stephen F. Austin, leading the all-time series 12-4. UCA swept the Ladyjacks in Conway last season.

Sam Houston State (9-11, 3-4 SLC) also fell in five sets at ACU last weekend. The Bearkats sit one behind the Sugar Bears in the conference standings, which remain wide open with just 2.5 games separating third place and 11^th place in the table. The Kats rank third in the SLC in assists (12.05), kills (12.71), and digs (16.29), while sitting sixth in both hitting percentage (.179) and opponent hitting percentage (.197). Juniors Jordyn Vaughn and Brooke White rank fourth and sixth in the league in kills, averaging 3.35 and 3.22 respectively, while senior Michelle Griffith is fourth in the SLC with an average of 9.27 assists per set. While no one player dominates defensively for SHSU, six players are averaging at least 2.38 digs per set, while three players average at least 0.68 blocks per set. UCA leads the all-time series with Sam Houston by an 8-4 margin. Despite a 3-0 loss in the SLC Tournament last year, the Sugar Bears have won three of the past four meetings between the two programs.