CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears completed one of their more impressive wins on the year on Saturday afternoon as they cruised past the Abilene Christian Wildcats (5-15, 3-7 SLC) 3-0 at the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears (10-13, 4-6 SLC) flat-out dominated the Wildcats as they recorded a season-high .375 hitting percentage while holding Abilene Christian to a low .167 mark.
 
Freshman Alexis Stumbough turned in an absolute gem for Central Arkansas as she finished with a match-high 13 kills, 11 digs and two service aces along with a scorching .524 hitting percentage. Senior Abbie Harry led the offense alongside Stumbough with 13 kills while sophomore Madi Bowles and junior Amari Mitchell chipped in 9 and eight. Junior Emily Doss continued to do her thing on the back line as she led both sides defensively with 13 digs.
 
SET ONE – The first 24 points of set one were tightly contested for as 10 ties occurred to begin the match. Central Arkansas created the first separation of the afternoon as a big 8-2 run sparked by two Sugar Bear service aces and two Stumbough kills made it 20-14 late. The Wildcats attempted to crawl back in after they converted a kill to make it 21-16, but the home team responded with a Mitchell kill and Stumbough service ace to pull away and eventually win 25-17.
 
SET TWO – The Sugar Bears carried some serious swagger into the second set as they jumped out to a quick 6-0 advantage behind kills from Mitchell, Harry and Stumbough. After back-to-back Wildcat kills pulled them within four at 7-3, the Sugar Bears took complete control as they converted a 10-4 spurt and were never challenged again. Central Arkansas completed the impressive set win after back-to-back kills from Bowles and Mitchell made it 25-14.
 
SET THREE -- The third set started in a similar fashion as the second as Central Arkansas grabbed the early 6-2 advantage. The Wildcats did not lay down this time around though as they created a mini 3-0 run at point 29 to pull within four at 18-14. Up 19-15, the Sugar Bears put together one last 4-0 run that would be the final blow to the Wildcats as they watched Central Arkansas take the 25-17 win and secure the dominant sweep.
 
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JOHN NEWBERRY ON THE WIN
 
"We are very proud of our execution and efforts today. ACU is a team that you can never take lightly, and we saw that two years ago as they beat SFA as the eight seed in the tournament and met us in the championship match.
 
Our staff challenged the team with certain milestones to meet today and they surpassed the ones that it takes to win. Our offensive execution stood out the most. Lexi Stumbough has finally become more confident coming out of an injury and she had a huge game hitting .524 and playing in six rotations. Madi Bowles was extremely efficient again with zero hitting errors while Abbie Harry had a great game from her aggressive serving and 13 kills. She's been a standout within the conference and continued to do so today.
 
This win adds a great shift of momentum to carry us through the season."
 
UP NEXT
 
The Sugar Bears will enjoy a few days in Conway before hitting the road to Louisiana to face the Nicholls Colonels on October 31 and Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions on November 2.