Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will play their final two road matches of the season this week, looking to move up in the Southland Conference rankings. The Sugar Bears will face off with Southeastern Louisiana tonight at 6:00 PM, before facing off with Northwestern State at 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon.

Central Arkansas (11-13, 5-7 SLC) currently sits in a four-way tie for eighth-place with McNeese, Southeastern Louisiana, and Lamar, though UCA sits just two games back of fourth-place Abilene Christian. The Sugar Bears currently sit third in the conference rankings with a .194 hitting percentage, but seventh with a .204 opponent attack percentage. UCA ranks second in the Southland with 1.38 service aces per set, while sitting fourth in both kills (12.25) and blocks (2.25).

Individually, junior Megan Nash continues her efficient season, ranking fifth in the league with a .291 attack percentage and fourth with 1.10 blocks per set, while sophomore Haley Tippett is seventh in the SLC with 0.31 aces per set and a team-high 2.66 kills per set. Sophomore duo Samantha Anderson and Kellen Dunn supplement the offense with 2.62 and 2.27 kills per set respectively, while Nash chips in 2.26 K/S. Freshman Elizabeth Armstrong paces the Sugar Bear attack by handing out 8.58 assists per set, good for seventh in the Southland. On the defensive front, sophomore Amanda Dimon pulls down a team-high 3.27 digs per set and Tippett adds 3.09, while at the net sophomore Savanah Allen averages 0.97 blocks per set and Anderson adds 0.91.

Southeastern (6-19, 5-7 SLC) comes into the match hitting a league-low .138 while surrendering a .207 hitting percentage to its opponents. The Lady Lions ranks eighth in the league in both aces (1.20) and digs (14.65), while averaging 1.26 blocks and 10.91 kills per set. Freshmen Elyssa Purcell has been a jack-of-all-trades for the Lady Lions, ranking sixth in the Southland with 0.32 aces per set and adding 3.91 assists, 1.87 kills, and 2.31 digs while leading the nation with seven triple-doubles. Freshman Chloee Holden leads SLU with 2.06 K/S, while Haley Bakers dishes out 5.26 assists per set. Defensively, sophomore Monica Ramon is eighth in the SLC with 3.77 digs per set, while senior Rachel Bunn averages a team-high 0.58 blocks per set. Central Arkansas holds a 23-1 lead in the all-time series with Southeastern, and won this season's first meeting between the programs in straight-sets in Conway.

Northwestern State (11-16, 6-6 SLC) currently sits one game ahead of the Sugar Bears in sixth place in the league table. The Lady Demons, who will face off with New Orleans before the Sugar Bears visit, are hitting .138 on the year while allowing their opponents to attack at a .195 clip. NWST ranks second in the Southland with an average of 16.43 blocks per set, while sitting in the middle of the pack in kills (11.31), blocks (1.62), and assists (10.90). Senior Natalie Jaeger ranks fifth in the SLC with 9.05 assists per set, marshalling a balanced Lady Demon attack that is led by freshman Alexis Warren, who sits seventh in the league with 2.99 kills per set. Senior Lauren Agan adds 2.39 kills, while sophomore Reagan Rogers pitches in with 2.31. Defensively, sophomore Channing Burleson ranks third in the Southland Conference with an average of 4.93 digs per set, while at the net, freshman Kourtney Seaton averages 0.84 blocks per set. Central Arkansas holds a 16-5 edge in the all-time series with Northwestern State, though the Lady Demons earned a 3-0 win in Conway earlier this season.