Conway – Off to one of the best starts in program history, the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will look to build upon an 11-1 non-conference record by opening Southland Conference play with a win on Thursday night, when they head to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks. The match, which pits the Southland's top two teams against each other, is set to begin at 6:30 PM.

Central Arkansas (11-1) enters Thursday night's match having equaled the best start in the program's Division I history, tallying an 11-1 record for the third time since 2006. The Sugar Bears opened the season with a perfect 3-0 record at the Buffalo Invite, sweeping Canisius, Hampton, and Buffalo, before improving to 6-0 at the UCA Invitational with a 3-1 win over Little Rock and sweeps of Memphis and Tennessee-Martin. UCA then opened the UCA Classic with a 3-1 win over Arkansas State and a 3-0 win over Southern before suffering the season's lone setback, a 3-1 loss to Central Florida, before rebounding with another perfect weekend at the ORU Invitational that saw Central Arkansas take down Wyoming 3-1, Oral Roberts 3-0, and Tulsa 3-2.

"Like every coach in the country, we're constantly pushing our players to be more efficient, to play with passion and chemistry, and you can say those things every year, but the years where your players buy into that and start seeing success for that, it turns into a domino effect that can propel you through the rest of the season," said UCA head coach Jeni Jones Chatman. "I think our team is in a really good place, from a mentality standpoint as far as knowing that we've played some really good teams and we've been challenged, but we've found ways to push back and to rise to the occasion. I think that's one of the biggest differences I've seen in this year's team versus the past two years."

Central Arkansas has been a force offensively so far this year, leading the Southland in four offensive categories, pacing the league in, assists per set (12.79), kills per set (13.90), and aces per set (1.83) while tying for the best attack percentage in the league (.241). Individually, the Sugar Bears have been led by junior Samantha Anderson, who ranks second in the conference in hitting percentage (.350) while sitting fourth in kills per set (3.37), the only player in the Southland to rank in the top ten in both categories.

"Samantha has really asserted herself this season" said Chatman. "She had a great spring and really flourished. Part of that is due to Coach Huskey and all the training that he did with her, but she's also at a level mentality-wise. She's an incredible student, she's extremely driven in school, in volleyball, and in her personal faith, and I think she's found a very good balance of being able to do all three of those things and being able to do them all well. She's an incredible leader and teammate, and she's so fun to coach."

The success of the Central Arkansas attack is also dependent on what has becoming a hallmark of UCA volleyball: the setter position, and this season sophomore Elizabeth Armstrong has improved in multiple facets of the game, increasing her averages in assists (a league-high 10.40) and blocks (0.40) from her freshman campaign while staying consistent in digs (1.67) kills (0.92) and aces (0.16).

"EB is a winner," said Chatman. "She's a three-time national champion from club volleyball, and she just finds a way. Her work ethic is incredible; she'll run through a brick wall if you tell her that's what it will take to win. She's constantly watching film, and like Samantha, she had a breakthrough spring. I think some things that [assistant coach] Marissa [Collins] has been working on with our setting department, from philosophy and work ethic to strategy on how we're getting our hitter into one-on-ones and how we're actually executing our sets. She was one of the best in the business during her time here, so who better to have working with our setters?"

The Sugar Bears have also gotten a big boost off the bench from sophomore Abbie Harry, who has started just two matches, but ranks third on the team and ninth in the conference with an average of 2.81 kills per set while hitting .288.

"Abbie is a kid that has a lot of power and is still learning how to add finesse to her game," said Chatman. "There have been days in practice where she's just unstoppable and there have been days where she's struggled, but she's starting to figure out what she needs to do to have more day's where she's unstoppable and we've started to see that in matches. I'm really proud to see how well she's been able to get to that point and the work she's put in."

Defensively, the Sugar Bears have also excelled, ranking third in the conference in blocks per set (2.14) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.172) while holding their opponents' attack percentage under .200 in nine of 12 matches. Senior Megan Nash ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 1.08 blocks per set, and junior Savanah Allen adds 0.88, while freshman Emily Doss sits just outside the top ten in digs, with an average of 3.44, and juniors Haley Tippett (2.62) and Amanda Dimon (2.00) and sophomore Kelly Douglas(2.05) all average at least two digs per set.

"With our blocking, we talk a lot about how we want it to, not necessarily be a stuff block, but how it's about keeping everything organized," said Chatman. "If we're doing everything that we should be doing at the net, then it's going to be a lot easier to play floor defense, and I think that starts with work ethic. To be the best blocking team in the country, you have to have really solid work ethic. Megan has incredible work ethic in her blocking. She's a player that doesn't want to be beat, and she'll show you that she will not be beat because she is going to give you everything she has. Savanah is really coming along and buying into that as well, so that's been really cool to see."

Stephen F. Austin (12-4) opened the season with a loss to Florida Atlantic before going on an 11-match winning streak that included victories over South Florida (3-1), Mississippi State (3-0), Tulane (3-1), Tulsa (3-2), Little Rock (3-0), and Georgetown (3-1) before ending with back-to-back losses to Arkansas State and Rice last weekend. The Ladyjacks are tied with UCA for the Southland's best hitting percentage(.241) and also pace the 13-team league in opponent hitting percentage (.160). Junior Haley Coleman leads the SFA attack, ranking 10^th in the league with 2.78 kills per set, though sophomores Corin Evans (2.71) and Danae Daron (2.29) provide a well-rounded attack for the Ladyjacks, while defensively junior Makenzee Hannah and sophomore Shayla Eagleton each pull down 0.96 blocks per set and senior Lexus Cain ranks fourth in the league with an average of 4.17 digs per set.

"They've been one of the top teams in the conference," said Chatman of the Ladyjacks. "They've got a great playing environment that's very similar to the Prince Center, and they're a very veteran team. They're well-coached, they're well-trained, and they've got great players in their gym, so we're going to have to be at our most efficient levels to get something done. We went there last season and didn't have the best showing, and we played well when they came here last season, so it's really going to be a coin flip."