Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears closed out a three-match home stand on Saturday afternoon, sweeping the New Orleans Privateers 25-12, 25-23, 25-23. The sweep was the 11
th of the season for Central Arkansas.
Central Arkansas (18-5, 8-2 SLC) opened the match on fire, hitting .400 in the first set while limiting New Orleans (10-16, 4-7 SLC) to an attack percentage of .000. The Sugar Bears would take five of the first six points, setting the tone for a set that saw them lead from the third point on. The UCA offense was unstoppable, tallying three different 5-0 runs in the set.
Bailey Waddington set the pace for the Sugar Bears, handing out 15 assists, as
Samantha Anderson tallied five kills and
Kellen Dunn and
Haley Tippett each had four.
The second set was a much different story, as fans were treated to a back-and-forth set that featured four lead changes and 11 ties. Neither side was able to take a lead larger than two points early, with Central Arkansas finally creating a bit of space with a kill from Anderson to take a 13-10 lead. A 3-point streak would see UNO take a 17-16 lead, before Anderson picked up back-to-back kills and partnered with
Alanna Bramwell on a block to put UCA on top 21-20. The teams would trade the next four points, before UCA got a pair of kills from Tippett sandwiched around a UNO kill form Ehize Omoghibo to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Tippett turned in a monster performance in the set, tallying eight kills, and Anderson added four to her count, while Waddington picked up 16 more assists.
Central Arkansas started the third set strongly, taking the first five points. The Privateers proved up to the challenge, and while they were never quite able to even the set up, they cut the UCA lead to one four different times in the set. Anderson had four kills and Tippett turned in three more, while
Rayna Jefferis and
Emily Doss each picked up four digs.
Tippett led the Central Arkansas attack on the day, finishing the match with 15 kills and a .306 hitting percentage, and the Sugar Bears got 13 kills on a .357 mark from Anderson. Waddington handed out 41 assists and added five digs on the day, while Doss had 14 digs and Jefferis had 12. Bramwell picked up three blocks and Anderson and
Amari Mitchell each had two.
The Sugar Bears hit the road for a pair of matches next week, travelling to Beaumont, Texas to take on Lamar at 7:00 PM on Thursday before heading to Lake Charles, Louisiana to face off with McNeese at 11:00 AM on Saturday.
