Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears continued their strong play at the 2018 Central Arkansas Invitational on Saturday, sweeping the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Lady Lions 25-11, 25-16, 25-10.
Central Arkansas (8-2) was in control from the start, taking the match's first six points and building a 13-5 lead before closing out the first set with a 6-0 run. The Sugar Bears hit .500 in the set, getting six kills from senior
Samantha Anderson, five from senior
Haley Tippett, and four from junior
Abbie Harry.
UAPB (1-9) would take an early 3-1 lead in the second set, but it would prove short-lived, as UCA racked up four quick points to take a 5-3 lead. The Lady Lions would battle back to tie the set twice before a 6-0 Central Arkansas run put the Sugar Bears up 18-10. The teams would trade points for the remainder of the set, as UCA extended its lead in the match to 2-0. Tippett and Anderson each added three kills in the set, while freshman
Madi Bowles picked up a pair.
Central Arkansas established control early in the third set, using a 6-0 run to take an 8-2 lead and never looking back as they picked up their fourth sweep of the season. The Sugar Bears hit .591 in the set, getting four kills from Anderson, and three each from Tippett, Bowles, and freshman
Lexi Miller.
For the day, Tippett tallied 11 kills and a match-high 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, while Anderson turned in a match-high 13 kills. Sophomore
Amari Mitchell collected seven blocks, and sophomore
Bailey Waddington handed out 25 assists.
Following the match, Tippett was named MVP of the Central Arkansas Invitational, after hitting .358 and averaging 4.45 kills, 3.48 digs, 0.45 assists, and 0.09 assists. Sophomore
Emily Doss also earned All-Tournament honors after averaging 3.82 digs 1.00 assists, and 0.27 aces per set.
The Sugar Bears close out the non-conference portion on the road next weekend, travelling to Jonesboro, Arkansas to take part in A-State Invitational. Central Arkansas will face off with the host Red Wolves at 6:30 PM on Thursday evening, before facing off with Jackson State at 3:30 PM on Friday and Southern Illinois at 10:30 AM on Saturday.
