Beaumont, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears returned to Southland Conference play on Thursday night, traveling to Beaumont, Texas to battle the Lamar Cardinals. In a back-and-forth match, the Cardinals eventually emerged victorious, downing the Sugar Bears 3-2.

Central Arkansas (8-10, 2-4 SLC) opened the match on a 5-2 run to force a timeout from Lamar (3-13, 3-1 SLC). After the Sugar Bears extended the lead to 15-7, the Cardinals would take their second timeout in an attempt to halt the momentum, but the effort would be in vain, as the Sugar Bears would cruise to a 25-16 win in the set for a 1-0 lead in the match. Sophomore Haley Tippett led the attack in the set with five kills, while fellow sophomore Kellen Dunn added four as the Sugar Bears hit a blistering .522 in the set.

The second set saw the Cardinals build an 8-4 lead to open the set and force the Sugar Bears to call their first timeout of the match. UCA responded well, cutting the LU lead to just one point thanks to a 6-2 run, before the Cardinals built it back up to 22-17. Two quick UCA points would force a timeout from the Cardinals, who took three of the final five points to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 win in the set. Tippett again paced the offense, this time with four kills, while Dunn, junior Megan Nash, and sophomore Samantha Anderson each added three kills in the set.

Neither team was able to create much separation early in the third set, which opened with the sides tied at 8-8. A 10-2 UCA run would put the set out of reach however, as the Sugar Bears would retake the match lead with a 25-16 win. Senior Rachel Sharp was unstoppable in the set, hitting .467 and tallying eight kills as the Sugar Bears hit .417.

The Cardinals opened the fourth set with a 5-1 run to force an early timeout from Central Arkansas, who cut the lead to 8-7 to cause a Cardinal timeout. The sides would trade the next several points until a 5-1 run gave the Sugar Bears a 16-15 lead, but the Cardinals would answer with a 4-1 run of their own to retake a 19-17 and force a UCA stoppage. Central Arkansas would battle back to take a 23-22 lead, but LU would close the set with three straight points to even the match at 2-2. Sharp added six kills to her total, while freshman Elizabeth Armstrong stuffed the stat sheet, passing out 11 assists, digging eight attacks, and knocking down three kills of her own.

The fifth set was close early, with the teams even at 5-5, but Lamar would take 10 of the next 13 points to secure the 3-2 win in the match with a 15-8 victory in the set.

On the night, the Sugar Bears had four players with double-digit kills as Armstrong handed out a season-high 52 assists. Sharp led the way with 15 kills, while Dunn had 13, Anderson had 11, and Tippett had 10. The Bears also had four players with double-digit digs, as sophomore Amanda Dimon had 15 and freshman Rayna Jefferis added 11. Armstrong picked up her sixth double-double of the season with 13 digs, while Tippett tallied her eighth with 12. At the net, Anderson had six blocks and sophomore Nicole Peters had five.

Central Arkansas is back in action on Saturday, taking on Houston Baptist at 1:00 PM.