Tulsa, Oklahoma – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears overcame a slows start at the ORU Invitational on Friday evening, dropping the first set of their match against Wyoming 25-10, before rebounding to take the next three sets 26-24, 25-22, 25-19 to take down the Cowgirls 3-1.
The Sugar Bears (9-1) found themselves in a 10-3 hole to start the first set, and proved unable to close the gap, hitting -.079 to fall behind 1-0 in the match.
Megan Nash had two of UCA's seven kills in the set, while
Amanda Dimon had five digs.
The second set was a much closer affair, with neither team building a lead larger than four points. With Wyoming (3-7) leading 19-15, the Sugar Bears went on a 5-1 run to even the set at 20-20. The Cowgirls would take the next three points before a 6-1 UCA streak evened the match at one set each.
Haley Tippett tallied a set-high six kills and had a pair of blocks in the set.
Central Arkansas opened the third set by taking six of the first eight points to force a stoppage from Wyoming. After the Sugar Bears pushed the advantage to 19-12, the Cowgirls would make things interesting, battling back to cut the lead to 23-21. Kills from
Savanah Allen and
Samantha Anderson would quash the rally though, giving the Sugar Bears a 2-1 lead in the match. Anderson led the UCA attack in the set, tallying five kills, while Allen picked up three blocks.
The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair early on, featuring six ties and a pair of lead changes before UCA took a 10-7 lead to establish control of the set. The Cowgirls would stage short rallied throughout the remainder of the set, but the Sugar Bears refused to give up the lead, responding with runs of 3-0, 3-1, and 5-2 to close out the match. Anderson collected five kills and Tippett and
Abbie Harry each had four kills.
On the night, Anderson totaled a match-high 15 terminations, while Tippett and Harry each added 11. Elizabeth Armstrong handed out 41 assists in the match. On the defensive front,
Emily Doss had a team-high 12 digs and Allen picked up six blocks.
Central Arkansas returns to action for a pair of matches tomorrow. The Sugar Bear will take on host Oral Roberts at 11:00 AM, before facing off with Tulsa at 6:00 PM.
