Jonesboro, Ark. – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears were unable to overcome a slow start to the first match of the A-State Invitational, falling to the host Arkansas State Red Wolves by a final tally of 23-25, 18-25, 25-19, 22-25.
Central Arkansas (8-3) and Arkansas State (6-5) went back and forth in a first set that saw eight ties and three lead changes, with Central Arkansas owning the biggest lead of the set at 20-17. It would be the Red Wolves who would take the first point of the match, however, closing out the set on an 8-3 run. UCA got four kills from junior
Abbie Harry and 14 assists from junior
Elizabeth Armstrong.
ASU would build an early 10-6 lead in the second before the Sugar Bears battled back to tie things up at 11-11 on an ace from sophomore
Emily Doss, but a 4-0 Red Wolf run shut down the UCA momentum and allowed Arkansas State to cruise to a 25-18 set win. Senior
Savanah Allen led the UCA attack in the set, racking up six kills, while senior
Haley Tippett added five kills.
Arkansas State again to the early lead to open the third set, going up 11-7 before Central Arkansas used an 11-2 run to take an 18-13 lead and take control of the set. The Red Wolves would cut the UCA lead to four at 23-19 before back-to-back kills from senior
Samantha Anderson closed out the set for the Sugar Bears. Anderson was unstoppable in the set, hitting .500 and knocking down nine kills.
Neither side was able to establish control in the fourth set, with Arkansas State taking the first lead larger than two points at 17-14. The Sugar Bears would use a 3-1 run to cut the Red Wolf lead to 24-22, before a kill from Carlisa May ended the match. Allen added four kills in the set, while Anderson and senior
Kellen Dunn each had three.
On the night, Anderson tallied a team-high 18 kills while hitting .421, and Allen chipped in with 14 kills and two blocks. Armstrong and sophomore
Bailey Waddington each helped guide the offense, tallying 26 and 23 assists, respectively, while Doss dug a match-high 17 digs on the defensive front.
Central Arkansas returns to action tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 PM, taking on Jackson State.
