CONWAY, Ark. – Coming into the 2019 season, October 24 was one of the key dates circled during the Sugar Bear season. The young Central Arkansas team was scheduled to welcome the defending Southland Conference Tournament champion Ladyjacks of SFA in a night themed "Pack the Prince." While the Ladyjacks went on to sweep the Sugar Bears 3-0 and finish the year on a 21-game winning streak and 16-0 in conference, the match proved to be the night that saved the Sugar Bears season.
 
The team dropped to 3-6 in conference play, a low feeling that both the coaching staff and roster had never experienced before in their careers. On the outside of the playoffs looking in, the sweep was a wakeup call for everybody.
 
"Losing to SFA left a bad taste in our mouth and at that point, people realized, 'wow, we really have to get our stuff together right now to make the tournament and turn things around,'" senior Abbie Harry said.
 
For the coaching staff, it was a time of stress and reflection. With four of the next games on the road against teams above them in conference, there was no more room for any error.
 
"When I knew that we were fighting tooth and nail to get into our tournament that we are hosting here, I made phone calls to probably 10 head coaches at other schools that are good friends of mine," Associate Head Coach John Newberry said. "I asked a million questions geared around 'what would you do' and a lot of them said a common theme of, 'just focus on one thing and get better at that one thing.' After those phone calls, we made some small adjustments with serving.
 
A lot of the advice from colleagues worked."
 
Along with the next four of five on the road after the SFA loss, the remaining games created a challenging path to a tournament berth as all but one team was ranked above the Sugar Bears. Newberry knew that it was going to take a razor-sharp focus to turn things around.
 
"Looking at our schedule knowing that we were 3-6 in conference and had an uphill battle, we knew that each game was going to matter for the rest of the season. We couldn't take one play off for one single game," Newberry said. "The biggest thing that changed for me as a coach was on Sunday/Monday, I look at both teams we're about to play that week. After that, I quit looking at the second team and would strictly look at that next opponent and focus on small adjustments for the next one.
 
That's the mentality we had, let's just take one game at a time and literally not worry about who's next."
 
That mentality seemed to work over the next three matches as the Sugar Bears swept Abilene Christian and took two five-set wins on the road over Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana to build some momentum and even their conference record at 6-6. Associate Head Coach Marissa Collins said that the new-found confidence actually birthed right before the SFA match.
 
"Honestly, it really only took one win for us. When we went to Lamar and swept them 3-0, I saw a confidence in our team that I hadn't seen all season," Collins said. "After that one win, their entire mentality and mood as players switched and we knew that we were about to take a stand in conference and fight our way back to the top."
 
The Sugar Bears did some fighting, and then some. The team that was once ninth in conference and shaky in confidence went on a furious seven-game winning streak with key wins over top-ranked teams like Sam Houston, Houston Baptist and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The rejuvenated group turned in jaw-dropping numbers over the winning streak as they averaged 57.3 kills on a .267 hitting percentage while holding opponents to a cold .197 hitting mark. As for the service errors, the Sugar Bears converted five or less on four of the seven matches and improved after averaging 6.6 per match during the 3-6 skid.
 
Newberry described the wins as a unique feeling of excitement and relief for the coaching staff and players.
 
"I've felt this several times since I shave my head every day, but if I get goosebumps on the top of my head – that's a great day," Newberry said with a smile. "As funny as that seems, I know that feeling because it's a sense of accomplishment, excitement and the wins feel good all over you and exude to everyone else around you.
 
The other side of it is that it's a sense of relief because you start to reap the benefits of the hard practices and telling your players that we believe in them even during the low times and that we as a coaching staff were going to help them in every way we can to get them the success they deserved to have."
 
With their win over Sam Houston on November 9 for their fifth straight, the team clinched a spot in the tournament for the tenth season in a row. After the match, Collins said that she was so happy for her team after all the adversities they went through during the year.
 
"It was a weight lifted off our shoulders. It was never about this team being capable of making the tournament or being capable of winning a ton of games in conference, it was just a matter of when we were going to do it and how we were going to pull it all together," Collins said. "We were just really happy for this team. They're great players and people that deserved this. They were finally getting what we wanted them to have so it was a great sense of accomplishment."
 
With two games remaining on the schedule, the team got some heavy news as Jeni Jones Chatman announced her resignation as head coach after five seasons with the program. Chatman promoted Collins and Newberry last summer to associate head coach status as she was preparing to have her first child and be away from the team on maternity leave. Newberry said the news was a bag of mixed emotion for the staff and team.
 
"When she let us know, there was this one side of us being excited that she was choosing family because a lot of people probably rely more on their job than family, so we were really happy for her," Newberry said. "At the same time though, we just lost a great friend that we got to be around every single day and that was sad. It didn't really hit me as hard until the news article posted. I remember going after practice and bawling my eyes out because it finally felt real."
 
Junior Emily Doss said that the team wanted Chatman to be happy and that her decision helped drive them even more to win games.
 
"We all kind of prepared ourselves for it throughout the season. It was something that we kind of knew was going to happen, but we still wanted it for her," Doss said. "We want to win for her and John and Mar. I think it's pushed us even more to want to win this thing and we want to do it for the coaches, ourselves and the program."
 
The single most evident thing shown from the team throughout all the hardships was that chemistry was never an issue. The ladies kept the same mindset after every win and loss and simply wanted to get better every day. Collins said that the strong chemistry kept the team from ultimately sinking early on.
 
"I've seen teams that have great athletes and horrible chemistry and don't win. Where we might not be as athletic of a team as ones we've had in the past, our team chemistry is so strong that it has pulled us through multiple matches that we may not have won otherwise," Collins said. "Even when we were losing back-to-back-to-back games, our team was so positive and continued to pull together and shed a positive light. It's definitely what has pulled us into a winning position this year."
 
The Sugar Bears will go for their eighth straight win tomorrow night when they will open SLC Tournament play with the TAMCC Islanders at 6:30 p.m. in the Farris Center. No matter how the season may end for this team, the group will forever be remembered for the way they stayed together and fought for one another to the end.
 
"The biggest takeaway of the year is how incredibly proud we are of this team," Collins said. "They have just overcome so much this season and each and every one of them has grown as a player. We knew they were capable of being great, but it took a little extra work than it normally would and I've really never been prouder of a team.
 
I've been a part of many programs that were the winningest programs in UCA history, but we didn't always have to overcome as much as this team has, so I'm proud of the way they pushed through and let their team chemistry carry them through."
 
Fans can get ready for the 6:30 game by attending a special tailgate at 5 p.m. that will be located in the grass lot across Bruce Street from the Farris Center. Pizza, water, soda and rally towels will be given out.
 
Go Sugar Bears.