Natchitoches, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears returned to action on the road on Tuesday night, traveling to Natchitoches, Louisiana to face off with one of the hottest teams in the Southland Conference, the Northwestern State Lady Demons. In a night that saw upsets all over the Southland, the Sugar Bears found themselves trailing 2-1 in the match before rallying to take down the Lady Demons 27-29, 25-15, 17-25, 25-19, 15-5, pushing their winning streak to five straight matches and moving into a tie for first place in the SLC standings.

Northwestern State (13-15, 8-5 SLC) took a 5-1 lead to open the match, before Central Arkansas evened things up at 10-10. After Northwestern extended the lead to 17-12 to force a timeout from UCA, the Sugar Bears would cut it to 21-20, causing the Lady Demons to take a timeout of their own. UCA would take the lead at 22-21, but Northwestern would take it back at 23-22. From there the Sugar Bears fended off three match points, before the Lady Demons got back-to-back kills from Kourtney Seaton to take the set. Amanda Beaton led the UCA attack in the set, tallying five kills, while Samantha Anderson added four.

The second set started off much closer, until UCA was able to turn a 7-6 edge into a 12-7 lead, thanks in large part to four Lady Demon errors. The advantage would hover between four and five points until a 7-1 run but the Sugar Bears in front by a tally of 23-13. A kill fromAbbie Harry and another Northwestern error would see the Sugar Bears even the match at 1-1. Harry collected five kills in the set, while Anderson and Alanna Bramwell each had three blocks.

Central Arkansas struggled out of the halftime break, ceding an 11-6 lead to the Lady Demons to open the third set. The Sugar Bears were unable to rally in the set, with the lead growing to as much as nine, and found themselves in a 2-1 hole. UCA hit -.026 in the set, as Anderson, Harry, and Haley Tippett each had two kills.

Neither team was able to create separation in the early-going of the fourth set, which was tied at 18-18 until the Sugar Bears took advantage of six Northwestern errors to force a decisive fifth set. The UCA defense turned in 6.0 team blocks in the set, with Anderson, Tippett, and Savanah Allen all picking up three blocks.

Central Arkansas would dominate the fifth set, opening with a 7-1 run to force a stoppage from the Lady Demons before cruising to a 15-5 set win. The Sugar Bears would hit .714 as a team in the set, with Megan Nash hitting .600 with a set-high three kills, and Anderson and Harry both hitting 1.000 with a pair of kills.

On the day, Anderson collected a team-high 14 kills and ten blocks for her first double-double of the season, while Harry chipped in with 13 kills. Elizabeth Armstrong finished the night with 34 assists, 10 digs, and three kills, while Bailey Waddington handed out 10 assists. Defensively, Amanda Dimon had 17 digs, Tippett had 16, and Rayna Jefferis had 10, while Kelly Douglas and Emily Doss each added nine. At the net, Bramwell ended up with seven blocks and Nash had six.

Central Arkansas who is tied with Stephen F. Austin for the Southland Conference lead, plays its final regular season road match on Thursday, taking on Houston Baptist at 6:00 PM.