Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears opened the final weekend of the 2017 regular season looking to move into a tie for first place in the Southland Conference standings with a win over McNeese State on Thursday night. It appeared that the Sugar Bears would do just that, as they took the first two sets of the match in dominant fashion, before the Cowgirls rebounded to take the final three sets. In the end, Central Arkansas found itself on the wrong end of the decision, falling 25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 17-25, 18-20.
Central Arkansas (23-4, 12-3 SLC) hit over .320 in each of the first two sets and held McNeese (19-11, 10-5 SLC) under the .200 mark.
Elizabeth Armstrong handed out 12 assists in the first set and bettered that mark in the second with 17, while
Samantha Anderson picked up seven kills in each,
Savanah Allen had two in the first and six in the second, and
Megan Nash had two and four.
The Cowgirls would make the most of the ten-minute break between the second and third sets, however, upping their attack percentage to .231 and holding Central Arkansas to a .143 mark to cut into the UCA lead. Anderson continued to pace the Sugar Bear attack, adding seven more kills to her tally, while Armstrong dished out 14 more assists and also collected seven digs.
The fourth set saw McNeese even things up behind the night's highest swing percentage from either side, as the Cowgirls got 16 kills on 35 swings with just three errors for a .371 mark, while UCA picked up 12 kills on 34 attempts with six errors to hit just .176. Allen, Nash, and Armstrong each had three kills in the set, while defensively, Armstrong and
Amanda Dimon each dug four Cowgirl attacks.
The fifth set proved to be the most exciting of the night, as the sides exchanged the lead eight times and played to 12 tie scores, but the Sugar Bears found themselves unable to salvage the victory despite saving match point on four occasions. Armstrong picked up eight more assists in the set, and Central Arkansas got three kills each from
Haley Tippett, Allen, and Anderson.
Armstrong collected her fourth double-double of the night, handing out 60 assists and adding 17 digs to go along with six kills, three aces, and a pair of blocks. Anderson collected a match-high 25 kills, five digs, and three blocks, while Allen tallied a career-high 17 kills with four blocks, and Nash added 13 kills, six digs, and five blocks. Dimon chipped in with a match-high 20 digs, while Tippett added 11.
Central Arkansas will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Nicholls Colonels at the Prince Center at noon. Despite Thursday night's setback, the Sugar Bears could still earn a share of the Southland Conference Title, albeit they would need some help. A Central Arkansas win over the Colonels, combined with a Lamar upset of Stephen F. Austin would see the Sugar Bears and Ladyjacks finish with identical 13-3 records to share the SLC crown.
