Davidson, North Carolina - The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears are coming off a strong 2017 campaign as they were crowned Southland Conference Champions and made an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Tonight, they took their first step toward repeating that success as they swept the Davidson Lady Wildcats 3-0 in the first night of the Wildcat Classic. Senior Kellen Dunn led both teams with 13 kills and two other Sugar Bears finished with double-digit kills. The Sugar Bears dominated in the aces department, finishing with 10 to the Wildcats' two.

The night started with Davidson taking an early 3-1 lead after the Sugar Bears made two attacking errors. The Sugar Bears tied the set at 5-5 after senior Savanah Allen picked up a kill but the Wildcats quickly took a 9-6 lead. After two kills and an attack error made by the Wildcats, the Sugar Bears tied it at 9-9. The next 11 points saw four lead changes before the Central Arkansas went on a 5-0 run to make it 19-14. The Sugar Bears never looked back as they won the set 25-17.

The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the second set with three kills from sophomore Ellie Crosley. The Sugar Bears clawed right back with three straight points and back-to-back aces from junior Rayna Jefferis. After a Wildcats kill, the Sugar Bears went on a 6-0 run to take the 11-7 lead, a lead that UCA carried until the Wildcats tied it at 21-21. After swapping two points, the Sugar Bears scored three unanswered points as Allen converted two kills to win the set 25-22.  Allen had four kills in the second set.

The third set started with seven lead changes within the first 13 points before the Sugar Bears went on a 4-0 run to make it 10-6. The Wildcats responded to the run with a 9-2 run of their own to take a 15-12 lead. Trailing 16-18, the Sugar Bears delivered back-to-back points after one of Dunn's 13 kills and an ace by Allen. The close of the set saw six ties as both teams fought hard to the end. The Panthers were one point away from their first set win before Allen got a kill to make it 25-25. Allen continued her clutch play as she delivered two straight kills to complete the Sugar Bears sweep.

On the night, Dunn collected a match-high 13 kills, while Allen added 11 kills, five blocks, and three aces, and senior Samantha Anderson pitched in with 10 kills. Junior Elizabeth Armstrong stuffed the statsheet on the night, passing out a match-high 34 assists and adding five digs, four kills, and three blocks, while sophomore Emily Doss dug a team-high 10 attacks.

The Sugar Bears face the William & Mary Lady Tribe at 9:00 AM.. tomorrow and will wrap up their play at the Wildcat Classic with a matchup against the Marist College Lady Red Foxes at 3:00 P.M.