Lake Charles, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears returned to the court on Saturday afternoon, taking on the McNeese Cowgirls in a Southland Conference match. For the sixth straight match, the Sugar Bears gained an early advantage by winning the first set, and turned that edge into a 3-1 win over the Cowgirls.

With the first set even early, Central Arkansas (8-7, 2-1 SLC) used a 4-1 run to take an 8-5 lead. The Cowgirls and Sugar Bears would push each other over the next several series, with McNeese (4-13, 0-2 SLC) eventually cutting the Sugar Bears lead to 17-16, before a 4-0 Central Arkansas run put the set out of reach. Central Arkansas hit a blistering .448 in the set, getting five kills from sophomore Samantha Anderson and three each from sophomore Haley Tippett and junior Megan Nash.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair early, until a 13-6 run put McNeese up 19-12. Central Arkansas would take six of the next seven points to cut the Cowgirl lead to 20-18. That would be as close as the Sugar Bears would get however, as the Cowgirls would close out the set on a 5-2 streak to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 win in the set. Nash led the way in the set for the Sugar Bears, tallying three kills, while Tippett, Anderson, and freshman Amanda Beaton each chipped in with two.

The third set continued the struggle, as McNeese built an early 5-3 lead before Central Arkansas got a 5-0 run to force a timeout from the Cowgirls. McNeese would come out of the break with three straight points to even the set at 8-8, and the teams would trade points until the Cowgirls got a 3-0 to take a 16-14 lead. An 8-0 run from Central Arkansas would put the Sugar Bears on top 22-16, before McNeese battled back to force a Sugar Bear timeout with UCA leading 23-21. UCA would take the two points following the stoppage to take the set 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Nash picked up five kills and five blocks in the set to lead the way for the Sugar Bears.

Central Arkansas stormed out of the gates in the fourth set, building an 11-4 lead to force a pair of timeouts from the Cowgirls. UCA would maintain the eight point advantage until the score was 19-12, when McNeese rallied to cut the lead to just one point at 21-20. The Sugar Bears were able to keep the Cowgirls from consecutive points the rest of the way, though, taking the set 25-23 to win the match. Freshman Elizabeth Armstrong dished out 15 assists and added two kills in the set, as the Sugar Bears hit .361.

On the day, Armstrong picked up her sixth double-double of the season, handing out 45 assists and digging 12 attacks while adding five kills for good measure, while Tippett earned her seventh double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Nash led the Sugar Bears with 15 kills and five blocks, while Anderson chipped in 10 kills. Sophomore Amanda Dimon dug a team-high 16 attacks.

Central Arkansas opens the home portion of its conference schedule with a pair of matches at the Prince Center next week. The Sugar Bears will host Northwestern State at 6:00 PM on Tuesday evening, before welcoming Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday at noon.