Martin, Tennessee – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears returned to action on Saturday looking to rebound from a slow start to the Skyhawk Invitational, as the faced off with Memphis and Florida A&M. The Sugar Bears did just that, sweeping the Tigers before outlasting the Rattlers in five sets thanks to their best defensive performance of the season.

Central Arkansas (5-2) opened the day's first game by taking 10 of the first 14 points to open up a 10-4 lead on Memphis (2-5), but the Tigers would storm back to even things at 16-16 and force the Sugar Bears into a timeout. The stoppage would prove to be an effective one for UCA, as the Sugar Bears closed out the set on a 9-2 run, highlighted by a pair of aces from sophomore Emily Doss to take a 1-0 lead with a 25-18 win in the set. Junior Elizabeth Armstrong passed out 11 assists in the set, as seniors Savanah Allen and Samantha Anderson each turned in four kills, and junior Rayna Jefferis picked up eight digs.

The Sugar Bears and Tigers would again trade points early in the second set, until a 5-1 UCA run put them up 11-9 and cause Memphis to call for timeout. The sides would trade short runs until Memphis rolled of six straight points to take a 23-21 lead. The Tigers would force set point at 24-23, but UCA would rally with kills from Allen and Anderson and an ace from junior Amanda Dimon to take the set 27-25.

The third set saw Memphis build an early 7-4 lead, but the Sugar Bears would battle back to even things up at 14-14 before taking the set 25-22. The Central Arkansas offense was on fire in the set, hitting .353 and getting four kills from Allen and three each from Anderson and Armstrong.

In the day's second match, Central Arkansas raced out to a 14-7 lead, before cruising to a 25-14 win in the set; holding FAMU (0-6) to an attack percentage of -.027 with five blocks. Senior Haley Tippett turned in a massive set, collecting five kills and seven digs, while Allen added three kills and three blocks.

Central Arkansas opened a 7-3 lead to start the second set before a 9-2 Rattler run gave FAMU a 12-9 lead. The Rattlers would extend that advantage to six, at 22-16, before an 8-1 streak from UCA gave the Sugar Bears set point, but FAMU would stop the run with three straight points to take the set 26-24. Tippett continued to roll, with seven kills and six digs in the set, while Doss and Jefferis each added seven digs.

UCA would return to form in the third, building a 7-2 lead before holding off several Rattler runs to extend their lead in the match to 2-1 with a 25-22 win in the set. Central Arkansas continued its strong defensive play, holding FAMU to a .100 hitting percentage while getting at least four digs from four players and two more blocks from Allen.

Neither team was able to create separation in the fourth set, with the largest lead amounting to just three points, but the Rattlers were able to overcome 20 digs and 4.0 team blocks from Central Arkansas to take the set 25-23 and force a decisive fifth set.

Central Arkansas would never trail in the fifth set, building an 11-6 lead before closing out the match with four straight points, highlighted by a pair of kills from freshman Lexi Miller. Allen, Miller, and freshman Madi Bowles each turned in two kills in the set, as UCA held FAMU to a .000 hitting percentage thanks to 14 digs.

Tippett and Allen spurred the Sugar Bears on the day, with each totaling 24 kills and picking up a double-double against FAMU. Tippett collected her third double-double of the year with 20 kills and a career-high 27 digs, while Allen added 13 kills and 10 blocks. Armstrong handed out 75 assists on the day, while Doss totaled 37 digs, Tippett had 33, and Jefferis (24), Dimon (21), and Armstrong (17) all reached double figures.

Following the action, Tippett was named as the Sugar Bears' representative on the All-Skyhawk Invitational Team. For the weekend, she averaged 3.11 digs per set, 2.44 kills, and 0.44 blocks.

Central Arkansas will make its home debut with a trio of matches at the Farris Center this weekend, as they host the 2018 Central Arkansas Invitational. The Sugar Bears will open the Invitational with the second meeting of the 2018 Governor's I-40 Showdown, taking on the Little Rock Trojans at 7:00 PM on Thursday night, before facing off with South Dakota at 7:00 PM on Friday. UCA will then close out the weekend on Saturday, against in-state foe Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1:00 PM.