CONWAY – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will look to avoid their first 0-3 SLC start in program history as they travel to Texas to face the Incarnate Word Cardinals and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders over the next three days. The Sugar Bears (6-9, 0-2 SLC) will look for their first conference win after dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 thriller to the Sam Houston State Bearkats on September 28 at the Prince Center.
 
MEET THE INCARNATE WORD CARDINALS
 
The Incarnate Word Cardinals reside in San Antonio, Texas and will return home after dropping their first two SLC matches 3-0 to Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin. Sophomore six-footer Bethany Clapp leads the Cardinals (4-12, 0-2 SLC) offense with 180 kills and 3.05 per set while junior six-footer Julia Monday follows behind her with 132 kills on the year. As a team, the offense has racked up 640 kills on the year with a .191 hitting percentage for 10.8 kills per set (compared to the Sugar Bears 811 kills with .189 hitting % for 12.5 a set). Junior libero Alyssa Carlin leads defensively with 232 digs for 3.93 a set while 6'1 sophomore Carissa McGarity leads at the net with 46 blocks on the year.
 
MEET THE TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI ISLANDERS
 
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders reside in Corpus Christi, Texas and will face the Northwestern State Lady Demons tomorrow night before their October 5 matchup with the Sugar Bears. The Islanders (8-8, 1-2 SLC) shared a near identical SLC start with the Cardinals as they recently dropped back-to-back matches to Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian. Freshman libero Carissa Barnes headlines the Islanders squad as she leads the SLC in service aces (33), aces per set (0.54) and total digs (296). The attack is led by a quartet of Islanders as four players have 115+ kills with senior Madison Green leading with 130. As a team, the offense has converted 764 kills with a SLC second-best .221 hitting % for 12.5 kills per set.
 
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MARISSA COLLINS ON THE WEEKEND
 
"Incarnate Word and Corpus are both solid teams and will be tough competition for us. We are looking forward to bouncing back this week as we continue to work through some growing pains and adversity that we have faced.
 
It is still early in conference play, but we feel that we continue to improve each and every day. Our offensive presence is becoming more consistent, so our main goal is to heighten our defensive focus and improve our first ball contact. If we can be successful in that area, we will start seeing more wins."
 
KEEP UP WITH THE SUGAR BEARS
 
The Sugar Bears will start with the Cardinals at 6 p.m. tomorrow night and end with the Islanders on Saturday at 1 p.m. You can follow both matches via live stats or video using the links found here. For live updates, follow the Sugar Bears on Twitter @ucavball.