Houston, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears returned to the court on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Houston Baptist Huskies. Despite a big day from sophomore
Haley Tippett, the Sugar Bears fell to the Huskies by a tally of 3-1.
Central Arkansas (8-11, 2-5 SLC) hit .265 and picked up four blocks in the first set, but had no answer for the Husky (13-8, 4-1 SLC) duo of Bailey Banks and Ashlee Vann combined for 11 kills while hitting .364 to lead HBU to a 25-19 win. In the set, Tippett hit .333 and collected four kills and five digs, while junior
Megan Nash added three kills and a block.
The second set saw the Sugar Bears' attach percentage drop to .103, as sophomore
Samantha Anderson and freshman
Abbie Harry were the only UCA players to hit over .150 as the Huskies extended their lead to 2-0 with a 25-16 win in the set. Anderson led the way for the Sugar Bears with four kills, while Tippett added three and six digs. Freshman
Amanda Beaton was the only other Sugar Bears to record multiple kills in the set, tallying a pair.
UCA upped its hitting percentage to .146 in the third set, but limited the Huskies to a -.029 clip thanks to 20 digs and seven blocks. Tippett again had a huge two-way impact
leading the Sugar Bears with five kills and six digs, while picking up a pair of blocks. Anderson and sophomore
Kellen Dunn each added three as Central Arkansas forced a fourth set with a 25-18 win.
Central Arkansas again increased its hitting percentage in the fourth, attacking at a .171 clip, but were unable to limit the Huskies again, surrendering a .333 clip to HBU. Despite Dunn, Nash, and Anderson each turning in three kills, Houston Baptist closed out the match with a 25-20 win.
Tippett turned in huge numbers on the day, collecting her ninth double-double of the season behind a match-high 19 digs and a team-high 14 kills. Anderson chipped in with 11 kills, as freshman
Elizabeth Armstrong passed out 40 assists. Defensively, Nash picked up a match-high four blocks, while freshman
Rayna Jefferis collected 15 digs and sophomore
Amanda Dimon had 13.
Central Arkansas returns home for a pair of matches at the Prince Center next week. The Sugar Bears will host Southeastern Louisiana at 7:00 PM on Thursday evening, before welcoming New Orleans at noon on Saturday.
