Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will close out the 2016 regular season with a pair of matches at home this week. UCA will hose Sam Houston State at the Farris Center at 7:00 PM tonight, before ending the regular season against Stephen F. Austin at the Prince Center at 12:00 PM on Saturday.

Central Arkansas (13-13, 7-7 SLC) features one of the strongest offenses in the Southland Conference this season, ranking third in the league in hitting percentage (.200) and  fourth in kills (12.51/set) and assists (11.51/set). Defensively, the Sugar Bears are fourth in the league in blocks (2.19/set) and sixth in opponent hitting percentage (.199). Sophomore Haley Tippett leads a balanced UCA attack, averaging 2.75 kills per set and ranking seventh in the SLC with 0.31 aces per set. Tippett also plays a key role in the Sugar Bears defense, as evidenced by her 12 double-doubles this season, ranking second on the team in digs (3.09) and tallying 34 blocks on the year. Sophomore Samantha Anderson ranks second on the team with 2.67 kills per set and 0.89 blocks per set, while junior Megan Nash ranks seventh in the league in blocks (1.05/set) and attack percentage (.280) while collecting 2.29 kills per set. Freshman Elizabeth Armstrong keys the UCA attack, dishing out 9.02 assists per set, while sophomore Amanda Dimon leads the way defensively with 3.31 digs per set.

Sam Houston State (15-12, 9-5 SLC) ranks third in the Southland in both kills (13.02) and assists (12.32), while hitting .193 so far this season. On the defensive front, the Bearkats are third with an average of 16.20 digs per set and sit seventh with an average of 1.77 blocks per set. Juniors Jordyn Vaughn (3.28 K/S) and Brooke White (3.31 K/S) both sit in the top ten in the conference in kills, while sophomore Amanda Gooch's .315 attack percentage is good for the second-best in the Southland. Defensively, senior Claire Kilpatrick leads SHSU with 3.09 digs per set, while sophomore Taylor Cunningham leads the team with 0.89 blocks per set.  The Sugar Bears lead the all-time series with the Bearkats by an 8-5 count, though SHSU swept UCA in this season's first meeting in Huntsville, Texas.

Stephen F. Austin (18-9, 11-3 SLC) sit in the middle of the Southland conference offensively, ranking sixth in kills (11.96) assists (11.12), and hitting percentage (.185), but feature a defense that leads the league in digs (18.36), blocks (2.54), and opponent hitting percentage (.165). The Ladyjacks feature a pair of players in the top ten in the league in hitting percentage, in senior Justice Walker (.312) and freshman Danae Daron (.297), while Walker also leads the league with 1.32 blocks per set and sophomore Lexus Cain leads the conference with 5.34 digs per set. Offensively, freshman Ann Hollas sits eighth in the league with 8.43 assists per set and junior Abby McIntyre leads the team with 2.49 kills per set. Despite a 3-0 win by the Ladyjacks earlier this season, the Sugar Bears remain the only current Southland Conference team with a winning record over SFA, holding a 12-5 edge in the all-time series.

Following Saturday's match, the Sugar Bears will honor their lone senior, Rachel Sharp. In her two years in Conway, Sharp has filled a number of roles for the Sugar Bears, averaging 1.47 kills per set and 1.12 digs per set while collecting 58 blocks, 28 aces, and eight assists. She is pursuing a degree in health education.