Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears are set to return to action with a pair of road matches this weekend. UCA will take on Lamar at 7:00 PM on Thursday night, before heading to Houston Baptist for a 1:00 PM match on Saturday afternoon.

The Sugar Bears (8-9, 2-3 SLC) went 0-2 last week, falling to Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by identical 3-0 scores at the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears have hit .187 on the year, a number which is good for third in the Southland Conference, while their opponents have hit .199, the sixth-best mark in the league. Individually, junior Megan Nash ranks fourth in the Southland with a .291 hitting percentage and fifth with an average of 1.10 blocks per set, while chipping in 2.25 kills per set. Sophomore Haley Tippett leads the Central Arkansas attack with an average of 2.67 kills per set and ranks fourth in the league with 0.25 aces per set. Defensively, sophomore Amanda Dimon is 10^th in the Southland with 3.33 digs per set.

Lamar (2-13, 2-1 SLC) will be making its first home appearance on Thursday night, after opening the year on a school record-tying 15 match road trip. The Cardinals opened Southland play with a 3-2 loss at Southeastern Louisiana before rebounding with a 3-1 win at New Orleans. Last weekend, the Cardinals outlasted Houston Baptist 3-2. Senior Chelsea Grant leads the way for the Cardinals, ranking fourth in the Southland with 3.44 kills per set, while junior Haley Morton and senior Ashley Ellis run point for Lamar, handing out 6.56 and 6.39 assists, respectively. Defensively, junior Carlyn Stella has a averages a team-high 2.59 digs per set, while freshman Dannisha House picks up 1.43 blocks per set. Central Arkansas leads the all-time series with the Cardinals by a 12-4 margin, and the Sugar Bears have won the past six matches. UCA took last season's meeting 3-0 in Beaumont, Texas.

Houston Baptist (11-8, 2-1 SLC) went 1-1 last week, defeating Texas Southern 3-1, but falling to Lamar in five sets. The Huskies lead the Southland with a hitting percentage of .207, while limiting their opponents to a .176 mark. Junior Bailey Banks leads the Southland in kills per set, with an average of 3.63, while sitting eighth in the league with an attack percentage of .245. The Husky attack is led marshalled by senior Kaylar Armer, whose 9.92 assists per set are the best in the league. On the defensive front, junior Blair Gillard leads the Southland with 1.24 blocks per set, while Banks sits ninth with 3.35 digs per set. The Sugar Bears hold a 6-1 edge in the all-time series with the Huskies, including a pair of wins last season. UCA swept HBU in Conway on September 29^th, and added a 3-1 win in Houston on November 5^th.