CONWAY – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears opened home play in front of a roaring Conway crowd that nearly carried them to the finish line as they fell to the Ole Miss Rebels 3-2 on Friday night. The five-set dog fight took place in the Farris Center in front of an audience well over 1,500 and concluded night one of the Central Arkansas Invitational. Senior Abbie Harry led the Sugar Bears (4-4) with 20 kills while sophomores Lexi Miller and Madi Bowles contributed 15 and 13. The usual setter-pairing of senior Elizabeth Armstrong and junior Bailey Waddington combined for 45 assists on the night while junior Emily Doss led both sides with a game-high 25 digs.
 
SET 1 – The match was an instant battle from the beginning as there were eight recorded ties within the first 20 points. The Sugar Bears created a gasp of breathing room as the Rebels gifted them with three straight errors to take a narrow 13-10 lead. Both sides clawed back and forth over the next 17 points and another Ole Miss error eventually tied it at 20-all. Bowles chose the perfect time to contribute her only two kills of the set as she delivered them back-to-back to make it 24-21 and bring the loud Conway faithful to their feet. After the Rebels attempted to keep the set alive with a kill, Harry delivered kill No. 4 of the set to clinch the 25-22 win.
 
SET 2 – The Rebels came out of the break unphased and grabbed the set by the throat midway through. Up 9-6 after a kill, the Rebels silenced the crowd with a dominant 10-1 run that would eventually turn into a 25-13 win. The Sugar Bears delivered their worst offensive performance in the second set as they finished with a .031 hitting percentage and only seven kills.
 
SET 3 – The Sugar Bears responded nicely in set three as they finished with a 14-11 kill advantage over the Rebels and recorded a scorching .462 hitting percentage. After 21 points of back and forth gameplay, Central Arkansas converted their own crucial mid-set run as they got five Ole Miss errors and two kills from Miller and Harry to take a 19-11 lead. That 8-1 spurt would be all the breathing space Central Arkansas needed as they went on to go up 2-1 with the 25-16 win.
 
SET 4 – The Rebels quickly took the life out of the arena in set four as they jumped out a 7-1 advantage. The Sugar Bears were able to pull within two a few points later after two straight Rebel errors and a Miller kill made it 9-7. Two would be the closest Central Arkansas would get through the remainder of the set though as Ole Miss kept them away and took the set 25-19. The Sugar Bears attempted to claw back after another Miller kill made it 19-16, but the Rebels shut the door with a 6-3 run to push the match to set five.
 
SET 5 – After a Sugar Bear error made it 2-2, Central Arkansas went on a mini 3-1 run and took a 5-3 lead off of two kills from Harry. Ole Miss quickly countered with two straight points of their own and both sides countered punches up to an 8-8 tie. The Rebels converted two straight crucial points off a service ace and kill that forced the Sugar Bears to halt play with a timeout. Central Arkansas jumped out of the timeout with an emphatic kill from Miller to pull within one but would not be able to convert when needed as Ole Miss took the match 15-12 after two straight Sugar Bear errors concluded the electric night in the Farris Center.
 
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JOHN NEWBERRY ON THE NIGHT
 
"What a great atmosphere it was tonight. It was great having the stands full with family and fans.
 
We are disappointed with our 5-set outcome but saw many great things that we have been wanting to improve on as a team. It was our toughest competition thus far. Offensively, we saw great production from our attackers on the left and right side. Our passing was not as stable as it has been in other games.
 
We look to continue to improve with our next match."
 
UP NEXT
 
The Sugar Bears will continue invitational play tomorrow morning with a 10:30 a.m. matchup against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and close out the tournament with an I-40 Governor's Showdown match with the Little Rock Trojans at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.