Orlando, Florida – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears opened play in the Holiday Inn Orlando East/UCF Challenge with a pair of matches on Friday. The Sugar Bears started the day with a 3-0 win over Central Michigan, before falling to host Central Florida 3-1 in the nightcap.

The Sugar Bears (5-6) jumped out to a 4-0 lead to open the match, forcing a timeout from Central Michigan (5-5), who entered the match winners of four straight. The Chippewas would take the first two points out of the stoppage, before another 4-0 UCA run pushed the lead to 8-2. After the sides traded points to push the set to 18-13 UCA, CMU used a 4-0 run of its own to cut the lead to one and cause the UCA head coach Jeni Jones Chatman to take her first timeout of the match. The Sugar Bears exploded out of the timeout, closing the set on a 7-1 streak to earn the 25-18 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. The Sugar Bears outblocked the Chippewas four to one in the set, led by sophomores Nicole Peters and Samantha Anderson, who each picked up three blocks. On the attacking front, freshman Elizabeth Armstrong continued her strong play of late, passing out 14 assists.

In the second set it was CMU's turn to race ahead, as the Chippewas built an 8-3 lead to open the match. UCA would respond in kind however, taking advantage of a 10-4 run to take a 13-12 lead and force a timeout from the Chippewas. The Sugar Bears would continue their run after the timeout, outscoring CMU 6-2 over the next eight points to push their lead to 19-14. The sides would trade points the rest of the way, leading to a 25-20 win for the Sugar Bears, who pushed their lead in the match to 2-0. Anderson led the way for UCA in the set, picking up four kills, while fellow sophomores Kellen Dunn and Haley Tippett each added three.

The third set saw Central Arkansas again build an early lead, as the Sugar Bears grabbed an early lead again thanks to a 7-3 start. After trading points again, UCA used a 10-2 run to push the lead out to 19-8. Again the teams would trade short runs and points before the Chippewas tried to rally, getting a 4-0 run to cut the UCA lead to 24-17. The Sugar Bears ended the rally with a kill from Anderson to close out the match with a 25-17 set win.

For the match, Central Arkansas hit an impressive .341, with five players hitting over .250. Tippett tallied a match-high 12 kills, while Anderson added 10 of her own. Armstrong passed out a match-high 33 assists to command the UCA attack. Defensively, sophomore Amanda Dimon tallied a match-high 10 digs, while Peters led the way with a match-high five blocks.

Against Central Florida, the Sugar Bears again got off to a strong start, hitting .444 in the first set to pick up a 25-17 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. Central Arkansas would be unable to hit over .100 for the remaining three sets, falling by scores of 25-16, 25-23, and 25-16 to drop the match.

Tippett again led the way for the Sugar Bears, collecting a team-high 13 kills and a match-high 19 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Nash added 11 kills, and Anderson chipped in 10, as Armstrong handed out a match-high 38 assists. On the defensive front, Dimon picked up 17 digs and freshman Rayna Jefferis added 11, while Nash led the way with four blocks.

The Sugar Bears return to action tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM, facing UNC-Asheville.