CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas fell in their last matchup in the first home stand as they lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-0.

Leading the charge in this matchup was the junior Madi Bowles. Bowles sat out all of last week's practice and came out with a fire as she led the team in kills with 11. From the defensive end, the most valuable player & blocker award goes to senior Amari Mitchell as she assisted on four blocks. 

Set 1:
The first set was the closest of them all as the Sugar Bears began the set with an early run as they went up 6-4. However, the Islanders used their ability to produce the kill shot to rally at the midway point to go up 16-14. The following nine points would be exchanged before TAMCC grabbed two straight points after a kill. Two consecutive kills finished the set as the Islanders won it 25-20. 

Set 2:
The late rally was the killer in this set, as TAMCC produced six kills in a matter of seven points in the late stages. When the score was tied midway at 14 apiece, that late rally proved deadly. After that portion of the set, the Islanders led the Sugar Bears 22-15. At that point, TAMCC was up enough that they were able to finish it and win the set 25-18. 

Set 3:
UCA started very strong in the third set as they took the first four points and forced the Islanders to take a timeout to begin the third set. The third set was the Sugar Bears' best set as they grabbed 11 kills and paced themselves with the Islanders; however, it was also TAMCC's best. The Islanders hit .405% and produced 17 kills on 37 total attacks. Both teams provided their best, but the Islanders made their stand late as they grabbed the lead at 16-14 and ran from there. TAMCC eventually won the set 25-19 and the match 3-0. 

Up next, the Sugar Bears head to Lake Charles, La. to face McNeese on Feb. 23 with the time yet to be announced.

Quote from coach John Newberry:
"We played better than we did from our Thursday match; we tweaked a couple of things, and I thought the girls came out a lot better. Corpus Christi is a very good team; there is a reason they are ranked ahead of us in the conference. They had a great gameplan and stuck with it, we on the other hand, had some miscues."

"Really proud of Emily Doss with 20 digs and Madi Bowles, she sat out a week of practice and came out and did a really good job. Lastly freshman Charlie Tidwell, she came in and played a really important role, we weren't expecting her to get much playing time, but she did a really good job."