Jacksonville, Fla. – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will leave North Florida with smiles all around, as they take down Jacksonville in four sets. The win marks the fourth straight against ASUN opponents and the fifth win in a row overall.
For whatever reason, the Sugar Bears have a nasty habit of dropping the first set this season. Fortunately, they have also had a habit of overcoming that and winning the match. Both took place on Saturday afternoon, as Jacksonville took advantage of a late 7-1 scoring run to take the first set 25-19.
UCA felt angry at the result of the first set and it showed in the second frame. The Sugar Bears opened up scoring five in a row and 10 of the first 11 points. UCA kept pace with every Dolphin rally and finished it off with a kill from Kendall Haywood.
The third set was a testament to what UCA had done all weekend, find a rallies at the right time. The Sugar Bears found themselves down 7-4 early and answered with a 5-1 run to put themselves right back into the game. Later, a 5-0 run was enough to lead UCA to a 25-20 victory in the third set.
UCA put a bow on the match in the fourth set, once again using timely runs and capitalizing on momentum. The headliner of the third set was a 7-0 run to make it a, 18-8 lead and keep Jacksonville out of reach. The Dolphins made a run at it down the stretch, but three straight points from the Sugar Bears, highlighted by an Alexis Stumbough kill, proved to be the dagger, and UCA sealed the match with a 25-16 win in the fourth set.
Mackenzie Vernon has time and again put in some gritty performances this season, and today was no different, as she finished with 13 kills to lead the team. Kendall Haywood and Alexis Stumbough each delivered 12 kills which were pivotal to UCA's success on Saturday afternoon. Caylan Koons once again came up big for the Sugar Bears, adding 31 assists to go along with three service aces.
Central Arkansas will return to the Prince Center on Friday, October 14th at 6:00 p.m. to take on Florida Gulf Coast. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+. You can follow along with every match this season on Twitter at @ucavball.
