Nacogdoches, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears opened Southland Conference play on Thursday night, heading to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks. The Sugar Bears hit .228 on the night, but allowed a .406 attack percentage from SFA, falling in straight sets 25-21, 28-26, 25-21.

Stephen F. Austin (13-4, 1-0 SLC) took a 10-6 lead to open the match before Central Arkansas (11-2, 0-1 SLC) battle back to cut the SFA lead to just one point at 16-15. After a pair of Ladyjack points, UCA got kills from Abbie Harry and Samantha Anderson to again cut the lead to one and force a timeout, before a pair of Ladyjack kills extended the edge back to three points and caused a timeout from the Sugar Bears. The teams would trade two-point runs out of the break, before SFA broke the volley with a 3-1 run to close out the first set. Anderson hit .500 and led the UCA attack with five kills, while Harry matched that attack percentage and chipped in with three kills.

Neither the Sugar Bears nor the Ladyjacks were able to create much separation in the second half, with the set featuring nine ties and three lead changes. UCA would take a 10-7 lead to force a timeout from Stephen F. Austin, who would fight to stay within a point until a 3-0 streak from the Sugar Bears made it 15-11. The teams would then trade two-point runs before the Ladyjacks took their second stoppage of the set. UCA would maintain the four-point advantage, getting a kill from Megan Nash, before three straight points from SFA would make it a one-point set. A service ace from Elizabeth Armstrong pushed the lead back out to three points at 22-19, before SFA took its first lead since an early 4-2 advantage, capping a 4-0 run with a kill from Makenzee Hanna to take a 23-22 lead. Central Arkansas would save set point three times, before SFA eventually took  the set 28-26 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Anderson and Harry tied for the team lead in kills, with each adding five kills to their total as Armstrong handed out 12 assists in the set.

The third set saw the Sugar Bears playing catch-up the entire time, as SFA would build an early 3-1 lead and UCA tying the set six times but never being able to take the lead. A kill from Nash would even the match at 10-10, before the Ladyjacks took four of the next five points to take the lead for good, ending the match with a kill from Danae Daron. Haley Tippett had a team-high four kills in the set, while Anderson and Harry each added three.

For the night, Anderson hit .370 and tallied a match-high 13 kills, Tippett chipped in with 11 kills and a team-high eight digs and, and Harry added 11 kills as Armstrong handed out 31 assists. On the defensive front, Anderson and Nash each had one block, Emily Doss had seven digs, and Rayna Jefferis collected six digs.

The Sugar Bears return to action on Saturday, heading to Beaumont, Texas to take on the Lamar Cardinals at 1:00 PM, before returning to Conway to open the home portion of their conference schedule against Houston Baptist at 7:00 PM on Monday.