Thibodaux, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears hit the road for the first league-wide night of conference play in the Southland Conference, heading to Thibodaux, Louisiana to battle the Nicholls Colonels. Central Arkansas continued its recent trend of starting strong, hitting .355 in the first set on the way to a 3-1 victory.

Central Arkansas (7-7, 1-1 SLC) opened the match with eight straight points and build a 12-5 lead before Nicholls (4-12, 0-1 SLC) was able to respond with a 4-0 run to cut it to 12-9. A 7-2 streak from the Sugar Bears pushed the lead up to 19-11 and put the set out of reach, as UCA coasted to a 25-16 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. Central Arkansas saw three players hit over .330 in the set, as sophomores Haley Tippett (.333) and Samantha Anderson (.600) and junior Megan Nash (.667) all eclipsed the mark.

In the second set, the teams traded points to open, before a 4-0 UCA streak saw the Sugar Bears take a 12-7 lead. After Nicholls cut the lead to just one point with a 6-2 run, UCA took the next four points to lead 18-13. The Colonels were unable to get closer than two points down for the rest of the set, as Central Arkansas extended its lead in the match to 2-0 with a 25-19 win in the set. Tippett, Anderson, and Nash each added three kills in the set.

The third set started even more evenly, with the teams tied at 17-17 after trading points and short runs through the majority of the set until a 5-0 Colonel run gave Nicholls a 21-17 lead and forced a timeout from Central Arkansas. A 6-3 Sugar Bear streak cut the Colonel lead to 24-23 and saw Nicholls take a timeout of its own. Central Arkansas would take a 26-25 lead, but the Colonels closed out the set with three straight points to cut UCA's lead in the match to 2-1. Freshman Elizabeth Armstrong passed out 15 assists in the set, as Tippett earned seven kills and Anderson and Nash each added four to their totals.

Central Arkansas wasted no time in the fourth set, jumping out to a 10-2 lead to force a timeout from the Colonels. The Sugar Bears would build their lead to 20-10, before having to stave off a rally from Nicholls, who used an 8-1 run to cut the UCA lead to 21-18. That would be as close as Nicholls could get though, as Central Arkansas got a pair of kills from Tippett and one from Anderson to close out the match with a 25-20 win in the set.

On the night, Armstrong set a new season-high with 48 assists to marshal a Central Arkansas attack that got double-digit kills from three different players. Tippett lead the way with her sixth double-double of the season, gathering a match-high 18 kills and adding 17 digs, while Nash hit .414 on her way to 15 kills and a match-high eight blocks. Anderson rounded out the trio, tallying 14 kills and three blocks. Sophomore Amanda Dimon dug a match-high 23 attacks, while freshman Rayna Jefferis collected 13 digs.

The Sugar Bears return to action on Saturday, travelling to Lake Charles, Louisiana to take on the McNeese State Cowgirls. The match is set to begin at 12:30 PM.