HOUSTON, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears delivered their grittiest performance of the year on Thursday night as they erased a 2-0 deficit and defeated the Houston Baptist Huskies (15-13, 7-6 SLC) 3-2 for their fourth straight SLC win. The Sugar Bears (13-13, 7-6 SLC) got hot at the perfect time as they now sit in front of Southeastern Louisiana for the sixth seed and two games in front of eight-seeded New Orleans with three games remaining.  
 
Central Arkansas received stellar performances from multiple players on the night as freshman Alexis Stumbough turned in a season-high 18 kill / 18 dig gem while senior Abbie Harry followed close behind with a 17 kill / 15 dig performance. The tough setter duo of senior Elizabeth Armstrong and junior Bailey Waddington combined for 53 assists while junior Emily Doss turned in her third 30+ dig match with a season-high 35. She now has an impressive 495 digs on the year.
 
SET ONE – The first set was heavily contested for as 16 ties occurred throughout the 52-point battle. The Huskies enjoyed the first real separation at point 29 as a Central Arkansas attack error made it 16-13, but the visiting team immediately responded with a 3-0 spurt to deadlock it at 16. The Sugar Bears seemed to be on their way to the win after back-to-back home errors made it 23-21, but Houston Baptist converted two straight kills to make it 23-all. After Harry saved the set with a kill to tie it at 25-25, the Huskies got a Central Arkansas attack error and kill from sophomore Ebonie Ballesteros to steal set one 27-25.
 
SET TWO – The second set was up for grabs through the first 20 points until a 9-3 Houston Baptist run broke the 10-10 tie and made it 19-13. Central Arkansas would pull within four after a kill from sophomore Lexi Miller and Harry service ace made it 20-16, but the Huskies took the strong 2-0 match lead as they closed the set on a 5-2 run to win 25-18.
 
SET THREE – Fighting for their match lives, the Sugar Bears got the first bit of breathing room of set three after back-to-back Husky errors and a Stumbough kill made it 13-11. After a Houston Baptist kill pulled them within one at 16-15, the Sugar Bears converted a mini 3-1 run as kills from junior Amari Mitchell and Stumbough made it 19-16 late. Houston Baptist would scare Central Arkansas as they got two straight kills to tie it seven points later at 21-all, but two kills from Harry and two home team attack errors would force another set as the Sugar Bears would take it 25-21.
 
SET FOUR – Similar to the second set, the home crowd saw the momentum shift to the visiting side as the Sugar Bears broke open the 11-11 tie with a 6-3 run off three Harry kills to lead 17-13. Four would be as close as Houston Baptist would get as Stumbough went bonkers and delivered the final five points for Central Arkansas via kills to clinch the 25-17 win and guarantee their eleventh five-set match of the year.
 
SET FIVE – The final set started as close as you could imagine as eight ties occurred through the first 16 points. The adrenaline shifted to the Sugar Bears at point 17 though as redshirt-sophomore Ravin Rhodes delivered a kill and the home team provided two straight errors to give Central Arkansas the 11-8 advantage. After the Huskies got a Central Arkansas attack error to pull within two at 12-10, errors would haunt Houston Baptist one last time as they converted two attack errors and a bad set to gift the Sugar Bears the 15-12 win and 3-2 comeback victory.

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JOHN NEWBERRY ON THE WIN 

"First off, Houston Baptist played an incredible match. We knew they were going to be physical and that their defense was going to make it hard to put a ball away. The first two sets were not our best. Our staff made some quick changes for the third set and we saw much improvement. 

It took a team effort and a gut check to win the last three. Lexi Stumbough and Abbie Harry were clutch for both getting double doubles. They showed great resiliency as the match went on. We always talk about how we need playmakers on defense and Emily Doss was definitely that person after receiving 35 digs. She played lights out and covered a huge percentage of the back part of the court to keep the ball from hitting the ground. 

Lastly, I would like to thank all the family and friends that came to the game. Three-fourths of the fans in the stands were wearing purple and gray."   
 
UP NEXT
 
The Sugar Bears will look to punch their ticket to the SLC playoffs on Saturday afternoon as they will face the stout Sam Houston State Bearkats at 1:00 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.