CONWAY – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will compete in their fourth and final tournament this weekend as they will travel to Edwardsville, Illinois today to compete in the Cougar Classic at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The Sugar Bears (5-5) will kick the weekend off with a Friday doubleheader against the Presbyterian College Blue Hose at 10 a.m. and host SIUE Cougars at 6 p.m. at the First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center. Central Arkansas will officially wrap up nonconference play on Saturday afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. match against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastadons before getting back on the road for Conway.
 
MEET THE PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE BLUE HOSE

The Presbyterian College Blue Hose reside in Clinton, South Carolina and compete in the Big South conference. The Blue Hose enter tournament play holding a 3-7 record with their latest win coming against North Carolina Central on September 14. Sophomore Erin Cooke notched a triple-double over the four-set match with marks of 17 kills, 24 assists and 11 digs. The performance was enough to nab All-Tournament honors as she finished the three-match weekend with averages of 11.3 kills, 16 assists and six digs. Senior Erin Eulitz led the back row with a game-high 15 digs in the match and has recorded double digit digs in nine straight matches. She improved her season total to 169 and averages 5.12 digs per set. Fultz is the only senior on roster followed by four juniors.
 
MEET THE SIUE COUGARS

The SIUE Cougars reside in Edwardsville, Illinois and compete in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Cougars enter tournament play holding a 5-4 record with three straight losses at the Tulsa invitational against UTSA, Houston Baptist and Tulsa. Junior Rachel McDonald represented the Cougars on the All-Tournament team for the second time on the year after recording 29 kills and 31 digs on the weekend. She leads the team in kills with 92 through 32 sets. Senior setter Mallory Nicholson leads the way in the middle with 162 assists for 4.76 per set while junior Jordyn Klein leads defensively with 124 digs through 34 sets. The team is led by its older group of four seniors and five juniors.
 
MEET THE PURDUE FORT WAYNE MASTADONS

The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastadons reside in Fort Wayne, Indiana and compete in The Summit League conference. The Mastadons enter tournament play holding a 3-8 record with their two latest losses coming at the Dunn Hospitality Tournament against Middle Tennessee and Eastern Michigan. The team's attack is sparked by 5'10" junior Katie Crowe as she leads the team with 127 kills through 48 sets. The team will enter weekend play with 504 combined kills and an average of 11.45 kills per set. Sophomore 5'9 setter Madison Gates leads in the sharing department with 203 assists on the year while freshman Rachel Crucis leads in the dig department with 180 through 42 sets. The Mastadons found themselves in a similar boat as the Sugar Bears entering 2019 as both squads started with a new look as Purdue Fort Wayne welcomed in five freshmen and lost four seniors to graduation day.
 
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MARISSA COLLINS ON THE COUGAR CLASSIC

"We are really excited going into SIUE this weekend. Our last two tournaments have challenged us, pushed us to be better and given us many areas to grow as a team. This week in practice we have shown the ability to rise up as one and make strides in the areas of our game that have challenged us the most.
 
I would love to see us maintain a high level of play this weekend regardless of what team is on the other side of the net. We need great defensive effort and more consistent ball control so that we can execute our offense successfully. I'm really looking for our team to play with grit and heart this weekend.
 
We need to arrive to each match focused in and ready to compete with one goal in mind. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it."
 
KEEP UP WITH THE SUGAR BEARS

You can follow all three of the Sugar Bear matches this weekend via live stats linked for each match here. For live updates, follow the Sugar Bears on Twitter @ucavball.