CONWAY – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will start writing their next chapter of the season over the next three days as they will open Southland Conference play with matchups against the Houston Baptist Huskies and Sam Houston State Bearkats at the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears (7-8) will look to start SLC play 2-0 for the first time since 2014 and avoid their fourth straight year of dropping the conference opener.
 
MEET THE HOUSTON BAPTIST HUSKIES
 
The Houston Baptist Huskies reside in Houston, Texas and will enter the Prince Center with two fresh back-to-back wins over Texas Southern and UT Rio Grande Valley from the UTRGV Tournament last weekend.  The Huskies (8-7) present a strong defense and mediocre offense as they rank second in SLC in digs with 838 through 52 sets, third in opponent hitting percentage at .174 and fifth in blocks (1.97 per set). On the offensive side, the team sits at No. 12 in SLC with a .162 hitting percentage, No. 11 in kills with 11.06 per set and No. 3 in service aces with 86. The Huskies are led by 5'9" junior outside hitter Mikayla Vivens as she leads her team offensively in kills with 148 and defensively in digs with 185. She also ranks second in service aces with 16 through 51 sets.
 
The Sugar Bears have handled the Huskies in years past as they hold a 10-2 career record over them and have taken the last four matches dating back to 2016.
 
MEET THE SAM HOUSTON STATE BEARKATS
 
The Sam Houston State Bearkats reside in Huntsville, Texas and will open their SLC play with a road matchup against the Northwestern State Lady Demons on Thursday before heading to Conway. The Bearkats (4-8) will look to grab their first road win of the year as they hold an 0-3 mark, one being against No. 12 Brigham Young Cougars on September 6. Unlike the Huskies, the Bearkats will bring a strong offense to the Prince Center as they rank third in SLC in kills per set with 13.10, tied for first in assists per set with 12.15 and fifth in hitting percentage at .209. Junior outside hitter Ashley Lewis leads the Bearkats offensively with a fourth-best SLC kill mark of 163 and 11 service aces while also providing defensive help with 117 digs through 48 sets.
 
The Sugar Bears hold the career 12-5 edge over the Bearkats and have taken the last four matchups (most recent being from the SLC Tournament last year).
 
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH JOHN NEWBERRY ON SLC OPENING PLAY
 
"We are very excited to finally be back in the Prince Center and to open up our conference week at home. This is a big advantage for us.
 
We have had some games we would love to play again to get a win. The biggest lesson learned so far is that everyone must leave it all on the court so they can walk away knowing they did their best.
 
Looking into HBU and SHSU, both teams have always been at the top of the Southland and both have a solid team that can beat anyone on any day. This weekend will come down to who can make the least amount of errors. We will need to control our very first contact on each rally in order for us to be successful."
 
KEEP UP WITH THE SUGAR BEARS
 
If you cannot make it to the Prince, you can follow both matches via live stats linked for each match here and live video ($) here. For live updates, follow the Sugar Bears on Twitter @ucavball.