Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears took to the court at the Prince Center for the final time this season on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Sam Houston State Bearkats in a battle of two of the Southland Conference's top three teams. On a day set aside to honor the careers of a senior class consisting of Haley Tippett, Savanah Allen, Amanda Dimon, Samantha Anderson, and Kellen Dunn, the Sugar Bears got big contributions from the whole group, downing the Bearkats 25-21, 25-11, 13-25, 25-22.

Central Arkansas (22-5, 12-2 SLC) would find itself trailing 2-3 after the first five points, before taking a 6-5 lead and controlling the first set the rest of the way. Sam Houston State (20-7, 12-3 SLC) would cut the lead to one twice before finally tying the set three times late, but a 6-2 Central Arkansas run closed out the set. Central Arkansas got four kills each from Tippett and Anderson, and three from Dunn in the set.

The Sugar Bears dominated the second set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead and never allowing the advantage to shrink below five points to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Central Arkansas defense, which had held SHSU to an .077 hitting percentage in the first, was even better in the second, tallying seven team blocks and 14 digs to force a .000 percentage on the Bearkats. Allen picked up five blocks, while Tippett did a bit of everything, turning in five kills, four digs, two blocks, and an ace.
 

The Sam Houston offense showed some life in the third, nearly doubling their kill count and hitting .394. Central Arkansas would again build an early lead, going up 6-3 before the Bearkats rolled off a 7-1 run to take the momentum. The Sugar Bears would keep it close temporarily, before Sam Houston State took 12 of the final 14 points to take their first set of the day. Central Arkansas hit just .031 in the set, getting three kills each from Tippett and Allen.

Central Arkansas continued to strike early, opening up an 11-5 lead behind five kills and three blocks from Allen. The Sugar Bears looked poised to roll again, going up 20-13, but Sam Houston stormed out of a timeout cutting the lead to one at 23-22, before UCA closed out the match. Emily Doss pulled down eight digs in the set, and Tippett and Allen each notched five kills.

On the day, Tippett turned in her 12^th double-double of the season, totaling 17 kills and 13 digs to go with five blocks, and Allen had one of the best blocking matches in school history, tying for the sixth-most digs in a match with 12 and chipping in 13 kills. Anderson had 10 kills and four blocks on the day, and Doss finished with a match-high 22 digs.

Central Arkansas closes out the regular season on the road next weekend, taking on New Orleans at 6:00 PM on Thursday night before ending the season at Nicholls at 11:00 AM on Saturday. The Sugar Bears, who have already secured a spot in the 2018 Southland Tournament, will then head to Natchitoches, Louisiana to take part in their ninth-straight SLC Tournament from November 16^th-18^th.