CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball program provided the Southland's biggest upset of the day as they bested Southeastern Louisiana.
Heading into today's matchup, the Lady Lions were the thorn in the rest of the SLC's side as they came into today with eight straight victories. However, with momentum from last match and the emotion of senior day, the Sugar Bears dominated as they won it 3-1. Leading the charge in today's upset victory was the four celebrated seniors as Bailey Waddington, Emily Doss, Amanda Beaton and Amari Mitchell all had big matches. Waddington took care of the assists with 30; Doss had the digs with 20, and Mitchell and Beaton took care of the kills and blocks. Mitchell had 13 kills and seven total blocks, while Beaton had one kill and five blocks.
Set 1:
The Sugar Bears got off to a hot start right from the beginning as they rallied early to an 11-7 lead. At that moment, it felt as if the tides were turning, and UCA was posed to succeed for the rest of the match. That fact remained steadfast as the Sugar Bears took it to the Lady Lions with another big run to make it 19-10. Errors in the first set were a problem for SLU, which made a major impact in these UCA runs. The Lady Lions followed that stretch with their own showcase but ultimately failed as the Sugar Bears rallied on two errors to finish it 25-18.
Set 2:
UCA gathered all that momentum and continued to expunge it in the second as they outdueled SLU in hitting percentage .267 to .242. The primary factor of the second came when the Sugar Bears gained an early 17-9 lead. The Lady Lions nearly matched UCA at 20 a piece later in the set, but that initial lead proved too much. The Sugar Bears continued to hold a slight advantage at that point but finished it on a kill by junior Madi Bowles and sophomore Alexis Stumbough to make it 25-22.
Set 3:
The third set was the lowest the Sugar Bears hit as they produced a .143 hitting percentage. With that percentage, the Lady Lions made their comeback in the third as they claimed it in the long run to extend the match. Once again, SLU made a late run, but this time UCA did not have a big enough lead to hold ground as the Lady Lions claimed it 25-23.
Set 4:
The opposite of all the other sets happened in the third as SLU came out with the early lead 8-6. From that point, the back and forth started as both teams rotated points for a good portion of the front half. The Sugar Bears eventually took over at the halfway point after Mitchell took over with a kill and service ace to go up 16-14. All the Sugar Bears needed was a slight edge with the back and forth continuing to gain momentum. That was the focal point of the set before an attack error finished it out. The third ended up being the Sugar Bears' best set as they posted a .378 hitting percentage compared to their hot hitting counterpart, who hit .300 for the set. Regardless of the offensive success of both teams, the Sugar Bears clinched it 25-23.
Up next, the Sugar Bears will head to Corpus Christi, Texas, to play in the SLC Tournament. UCA will play in one of the games on Wednesday, but the final seeding has yet to be decided.
Quote from head coach John Newberry:
"I am incredibly proud of the way our team played today. This was a full team effort, it was something that was discussed in the locker room and through the entire week, that this was going to be an incredible matchup. We had people that needed to be on and they were on. Really proud and thankful for our seniors to get this last win for their final home game at UCA."
