CONWAY – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears continued their five-set dominance on Tuesday night as they defeated the McNeese State Cowgirls (8-9, 1-4 SLC) 3-2 at the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears (8-10, 2-3 SLC) competed in their ninth five-set match of the year for the first time since 2011 and improved their five-set record to 6-3.
 
Senior Abbie Harry led the Central Arkansas offense for the second game in a row with a game-high 22 kills with sophomores Madi Bowles and Lexi Miller behind her with 15 and 12. Junior Bailey Waddington led in the assists department with 32 while junior Emily Doss delivered her seventh 20+ digs match of 2019 with a game-high 24.
 
SET ONE – Harry got the Central Arkansas offense cooking to begin the night as she delivered four kills to push her team to an early 6-3 advantage. After a Harry attack error brought the Cowgirls within one at 6-5, the Sugar Bears converted a 5-0 spurt after two service aces from junior Amari Mitchell and a Miller kill pushed their lead to 11-5. The bleeding got worse a few points later for McNeese as the Sugar Bears got three straight kills from Mitchell and Harry that ballooned the home lead to 18-8. The Cowgirls showed composure by grabbing the next four points to pull within six, but another Harry kill halted the spurt and the Sugar Bears held off McNeese for the 25-18 win.
 
SET TWO -- The Cowgirls flipped the script on the Sugar Bears in set two as they turned an early 7-6 lead into an 11-6 advantage and never looked back. Central Arkansas would pull within three after a Bowles kill made it 12-9, but the Cowgirls responded with a strong 7-2 run to hold the dominant 19-11 advantage. The Sugar Bears got an error from the visiting team on the next point to pull within seven, but three errors of their own would eventually doom them as McNeese evened the match with a 25-13 win.
 
SET THREE – Neither team enjoyed much breathing room in the third set as the biggest lead for both sides was four. The Sugar Bears recorded the first four-point lead of the set at point 32 as a kill from senior Elizabeth Armstrong and Cowgirl attack error made it 18-14 Central Arkansas. After a 5-1 McNeese response tied it at 19-all, the Sugar Bears pushed the Cowgirls to call a timeout as they got back-to-back Cowgirl errors and a kill from freshman Kailee Moon to lead 22-19 late. McNeese responded well out of the timeout with back-to-back kills to pull within one, but Harry came through for her squad as she delivered a kill and service ace to make it 24-21. The Cowgirls continued to be stingy as they grabbed the next two to stay alive, but Miller halted the visiting team's comeback efforts with a kill to win 25-23.
 
SET FOUR – The fourth set concluded similarly as the previous one as the biggest lead for either side was three. After back-to-back Harry kills and a Cowgirl service error made it 20-19 Sugar Bears, the set would shift for the team in blue as they converted back-to-back kills and got a Central Arkansas attack error to lead 22-19. The Sugar Bears fought back a few points later after back-to-back kills from Bowles evened the score at 23, but McNeese would force a final set after a home service error and visiting service ace made it 25-23 Cowgirls.

SET FIVE – Central Arkansas grabbed the first three points of the fifth set after kills from Harry, Bowles and Moon made it 3-0. The Cowgirls responded well and took their first lead six points later after they got two kills and a Sugar Bear error to lead 5-4. Central Arkansas was forced to call timeout after the next seven points as McNeese converted a crucial 5-2 spurt to grab the 10-6 advantage. The timeout did good things for the Sugar Bears as they responded with two kills apiece from Harry and Bowles that sparked a 6-2 run to tie it at 12-12. After a Central Arkansas service error tied it at 14-all and halted the home crowd celebration, Bowles and redshirt-junior Amanda Beaton came through for the Sugar Bears as they delivered back-to-back kills to win 16-14 and secure the much-needed SLC victory.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Sugar Bears will look to grab back-to-back SLC wins for the first time as they will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana to face the New Orleans Privateers on October 12 at 12 p.m.