CONWAY – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears were not able to slow down the streaking Lady Demons of Northwestern State (14-7, 6-1 SLC) on Tuesday night as they fell 3-1 at the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears (8-12, 2-5) fell to tenth in the SLC standings while the Lady Demons won their sixth conference match in a row to move into the third spot behind undefeated Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin.
 
Senior Abbie Harry continued to lead the Sugar Bear offense as she turned in a game-high 21 kills while sophomore Lexi Miller delivered 20. The setting duo of junior Bailey Waddington and senior Elizabeth Armstrong combined for 53 assists while junior Emily Doss led defensively with a game-high 23 digs. Central Arkansas turned in 64 kills on the night compared to Northwestern State's 56, but the Sugar Bears could not contain the Lady Demons attack as they recorded a strong .295 hitting percentage on the night.
 
SET ONE – The first 16 points showed that the match would be tightly contested for as seven ties were recorded early on. The Lady Demons created the first run of the night as three straight Sugar Bear errors contributed to a 5-1 run to give Northwestern State the 13-9 lead. Central Arkansas would not truly threaten until point 44 as they generated a 4-0 run off two Miller kills and one from redshirt-sophomore Ravin Rhodes to grab their first lead at 24-23. SLC Offensive Player of the week junior Hannah Brister came through for the visiting team as she delivered a kill on the next play to tie it and two more to help solidify the 27-25 win. Brister led her team in kills with 20.
 
SET TWO – Like the first set, the first real separation was not created until midway through as the Sugar Bears got a Miller kill and Lady Demon attack error to grab the first three-point lead at 17-14. Northwestern State pulled within two after a Central Arkansas service error, but the Sugar Bears got back-to-back kills from Bowles and Armstrong along with a Lady Demon error to grab the strong 20-15 advantage. The Lady Demons gave one last effort after a service ace made it 23-19, but Harry secured the set for the home team as she delivered back-to-back kills to win 25-19.
 
SET THREE – With the match tied 1-1, both teams battled through the first 22 points as six ties were recorded and the biggest lead was two. After a Sugar Bear attack error made it 13-all, the Lady Demons converted a 6-2 spurt off three Central Arkansas errors to lead 19-15 late. The Sugar Bears responded well with an immediate 3-0 run off kills from Miller and Armstrong to make it 19-18, but the Lady Demons grabbed the next two to breathe at 21-18. Harry attempted to pull her team back in with two kills to make it 22-21, but Northwestern State got two attack errors from the home team and won 25-22.
 
SET FOUR – The final set of the night was airtight as 14 ties were recorded and the biggest lead for either side was three. The set shifted toward the visitor side at point 42 as the Lady Demons got the first three-point lead off a kill and two straight Sugar Bear errors to make it 24-21. Central Arkansas briefly stayed alive as Miller delivered a kill to pull within two, but Brister ended the Sugar Bears night as she got kill No. 20 to gift her team the 25-22 win.
 
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The Sugar Bears will head to Texas for a brief road trip as they will visit the Lamar Cardinals on October 17 before returning home for two straight matches at the Prince Center.