Corpus Christi, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears secured their third SLC Championship Match appearance in the last five seasons on Saturday, defeating host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 25-17, 25-20, 24-26, 20-25, 15-9. The Sugar Bears, who are the second seed in this year's tournament, will be making their fifth finals appearance in eight tournament appearances.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (15-14) took four of the match's first six points to take a 4-2 lead, before a 7-1 UCA run featuring three kills each from Samantha Anderson and Haley Tippett put the Sugar Bears in front 11-6. A 5-1 run from Central Arkansas (26-4) would push the lead to 21-13 and force a timeout from the Islanders, but UCA would roll to a 1-0 lead, ending the set with a kill from Abbie Harry. Elizabeth Armstrong would hand out 15 assists in the set, as Central Arkansas got seven kills from Anderson, four from Tippett, and three from Harry.

Central Arkansas would carry that momentum into the second set, launching themselves to a 10-4 lead to open things up, before the Islanders eventually cut the lead to just three points at 20-17. That would be all they could manage though, as the Sugar Bears would take five of the next eight points to put themselves in position for their 16^th sweep of the season. Tippett would add four kills to her tally and Harry would pick up three more, as Central Arkansas totaled just nine kills in the set but took advantage of 12 Islander errors (10 attacking and two service) to push their lead to 2-0.

Unlike the first two sets, the third would be tight the whole way through, with neither team able to build a lead larger than three points. TAMUCC would take an 10-7 lead, but three-straight Islander errors would even the match at 10-10 before the Islanders went back on top 14-11 to force a timeout from the Sugar Bears. Central Arkansas would outscore the Islanders 10-4 over the next 14 points to take a 21-18 lead and cause the Islanders to call for a stoppage of their own. A 5-2 Islander run would give them set point, which UCA fended off with a kill from Anderson, but TAMUCC would get a kill from Brittany Gilpin and an ace from Kristyn Nicholson to cut UCA's lead to 2-1 in the match. Tippett had four kills and five digs to lead Central Arkansas in the set, while Anderson, Harry, and Savanah Allen each added two kills.

The teams would play to a 7-7 tie to open the fourth, before four-point streak would give Central Arkansas an 11-7 lead. UCA would hold the lead until the Islanders took three consecutive points to take a 16-15 lead and force a Sugar Bear timeout. UCA would take four of the first six points out of the break to take a 19-18 lead, but would be outscored 7-1 over the remainder of the set to drop the set, forcing a fifth. Allen would hit .375 with four kills in the set, and Harry would swing at a .333 clip while adding three kills, as the Sugar Bears hit just .075.

The fifth set saw the teams trading points early, with Central Arkansas taking a slim 10-8 lead, before a kill from Allen and a pair of Islander errors put UCA up 13-8 and forced a TAMUCC timeout. The Islanders would take the first pint out of the stoppage, before a kill from Anderson and another TAMUCC error wrapped up the match. Armstrong collected seven assists in the set, with Allen picking up four kills and  Tippett and Anderson each adding a pair.

Tippett had a huge match for Central Arkansas on the night, tallying  match-high 16 kills to go with a match-high 21 digs for her second double-double of the tournament, while Allen had 12 kills and three blocks, and Anderson chipped in with 12 kills and five blocks. Harry rounded out a quartet of Sugar Bears with double-digit kills, ending the match with 11, as Armstrong handed out 44 assists  and added 10 digs and three kills. On the defensive front, Amanda Dimon had 17 digs and Emily Doss had 10.

Central Arkansas take to the court at 3:05 PM tomorrow afternoon, facing off with eighth-seeded Abilene Christian in the SLC Tournament Championship Match. All-time the Sugar Bears are 2-2 in four championship appearances, while the Wildcats are making their first appearance.