Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears closed out the 2016 Crain Automotive Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday. UCA opened the day with a sweep of Alcorn State before falling to Louisiana-Monroe in five sets in the nightcap.

In the day's first game, the Sugar Bears (3-4) blasted out of the gates, hitting .417 on their way to a 25-10 win in the set. Sophomore's Haley Tippett and Samantha Anderson each tallied three kills in the set, as freshman Elizabeth Armstrong dished out seven assists.

Central Arkansas saw its attack percentage drop to .152 in the second set, but compensated by racking up seven service aces to extend their lead to 2-0 with a  25-16 win. Anderson added three kills to her total, while freshman Amanda Beaton matched with three kills of her own.

The third set saw UCA ramp up the defense, limiting Alcorn (0-4) to an attack percentage of -.222. The Sugar Bears again had a pair of players tally three kills, as Tippett and sophomore Nicole Peters reached the mark.

For the match, Tippett led UCA with eight kills, while Anderson added seven and Armstrong passed out 15 assists. Defensively, the Sugar Bears were led by Armstrong's nine digs and sophomore Savanah Allen's three blocks.

Against ULM (3-5) the Sugar Bears again jumped out early, building a 12-5 lead before a 10-3 Warhawk run evened the match at 15-15. The teams would trade short runs until late in the set, as ULM gained the edge in the match with a 25-22 win in the set.

The second set opened with the teams again trading points, until a short UCA run forced a timeout from ULM with the Sugar Bears leading 11-8. Central Arkansas came out of the break on a 5-2 run, before a short ULM run cut the lead to just two points. The teams would trade points for the remainder of the set, with UCA evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams making runs. With ULM leading 17-13, things looked dire for the Sugar Bears, but UCA got a 10-6 run to knot the score at 23-23. A 4-1 run would then give Central Arkansas the 27-25 win.

The fourth set was all ULM, as the Warhawks evened the match a 2-2 thanks to a 25-13 win.

ULM opened the fifth set with a 5-1 run to force a timeout from the Sugar Bears. UCA would battle back, eventually tying the set at 9-9, and the teams would then trade points before ULM eventually secured the match with an 18-16 win in the set.

For the match, Anderson collected 16 kills, while Tippett added 14 and Rachel Sharp and Megan Nash each chipped in with 12. Armstrong passed out a team-high 29 assists, while Kristine Hjembo dished out 20, and Amanda Dimon (15), TIppett (13), and Armstrong (11) all collected double-digit digs.

After the match, Anderson was named to the Crain Automotive Invitational All-Tournament team. In Central Arkansas' four matches, she averaged 2.38 digs per set while hitting .222 and averaging 0.81 blocks per set.