CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears started off the weekend well with a win over Queens in straight sets on Friday night at the Prince Center. The win improves the volleyball team to 18-8 on the year, with a 10-3 slate in conference.
Queens got things started with three straight points, but that didn't cause the Sugar Bears to panic. With Queens leading 5-3, UCA rattled off six-straight to take a 9-5 lead. The Sugar Bears then scored eight in a row after a point from the Royals to take a commanding 17-6 lead in the first set. Central Arkansas then employed a 5-0 run to make it 22-7 and eliminate all doubt. A kill from junior Macy Blackburn sealed a 25-9 first set victory for the Sugar Bears.
In the second set, the Sugar Bears came out on fire, getting ahead of the Royals 7-0 and forced Queens to take a timeout. Central Arkansas did not lean on big runs in the second set, instead, they played very consistently, and it showed in the box score. UCA got out to a 14-4 lead and would soon extend it to 19-7. On the verge of taking a 2-0 set lead, Caylan Koons snuck a ball over the net for a kill to seal the second set, 25-13.
The third set got off to a less than ideal start for UCA, with Queens scoring the first seven points this time. The Sugar Bears never blinked though, they hung in tough the entire time while Queens built a lead early. With the Royals up 17-12, UCA went on a 4-0 run highlighted by three kills from Alexis Stumbough to cut the deficit to one. Later, with things all square at 22, UCA used a 3-0 run capped off with a Stumbough kill to seal the victory for UCA.
Stumbough led UCA with 16 kills and added seven digs and an ace as well. Jamiryana Hall had another good game, tallying 11 kills. Koons had 32 assists and added six digs and two aces as well. Freshman Alexis McDaniel led the Sugar Bears defensively with 11 digs.
Central Arkansas will take on Liberty on Sunday, November 6th at 11 a.m. at the Prince Center with a chance to move into the top spot in the conference standings. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and as always, you can follow along with all the action on Twitter at @ucavball.
