CONWAY, Ark. - Central Arkansas volleyball continues its venture towards the conference schedule as they will face a barge of new opponents this weekend at the South Dakota Classic. 

The Sugar Bears have a combined one game against these three new counterparts as they will battle South Dakota, Bradley, and Milwaukee in Vermillion, SD starting tomorrow. 

UCA is fresh off a mixed weekend as they participated in their own tournament that hosted multiple nearby rivals. In that UCA Invite, they faced Little Rock, Missouri State, and Memphis. They claimed the first match against Little Rock in five sets but dropped the following pair in four and three sets. While it was a tough weekend in terms of results, a couple of standouts significantly impacted the weekend. Senior Lexi Miller was one of those as she led the team in total kills with 46 and earned All-Tournament honors in the process. Another outside hitter that thrived was junior Alexis Stumbough; Stumbough posted back-to-back double-doubles in the first two matches. It was not all on the veterans, though, as freshmen Mackenzie Vernon and Allison Holloway took it upon themselves to be included in the action. Vernon posted 30 kills and seven blocks, while Holloway had 16.5 points and nine blocks.

Those four will have a lot of responsibility as the Sugar Bears head into a crowded tournament with a bunch of favorable matchups. The first action of the South Dakota Classic for the Sugar Bears will be against the hometown South Dakota squad. The Coyotes have had tough luck in the early part of the season as they have faced three top-tier schools. Two of those include power-five schools in No. 12 ranked Louisville and Missouri. With three straight tough matches, they enter into their home tournament 0-3 with a ton to play for. In the early part of the season, South Dakota is led by one of their top returners Elizabeth Juhnke. Juhnke leads the squad with 41 kills and 45 points on the season. To stop her, they will need help from their middle blockers especially graduate student Amari Mitchell. Mitchell is one solo block away from reaching the top ten mark in school history and has already been a vocal leader in the early part of the season. The two will collide Friday at noon in the first match for the Sugar Bears. 

Next up on the Sugar Bears to-do list will be the Braves of Bradley University. Bradley is currently 1-4 on the season and will be a good test for UCA. Both teams are coming off tough tournaments, and both teams know they have more in the tank. The Braves are led by the defensive presence of senior Hannah Thompson. Thompson is one dig away from 1,500 for her career and is ranked 10th in OVC history already. UCA will need to hit it hard to counteract her defensive capabilities, and no one hits it harder than Vernon on the right side. This match between the two squads will take place Friday at 4:30 p.m.

To wrap up the weekend, the Sugar Bears will take on Milwaukee at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The Panthers have the most matches under their belts as they are 2-4 on the season. They will also have the most momentum as they finished off their last contest with a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame. Milwaukee is led by junior middle blocker Ari Miller. Miller has 92 kills on the season and adds 20 blocks to her impressive resume. She will be tough to stop, but with the help of Holloway and Mitchell, there will be a great contest in the trenches. 

Quote from John Newberry:
"We are very excited to head to South Dakota. This will be a similar type of tournament like the Central Arkansas Invitational, where all teams are very good. Any team could walk away 3-0 or 0-3. We have put a lot of emphasis on some of our skills that were lacking from the previous weekend. We will definitely be leaving on our trip knowing we have what it takes to be successful."