CONWAY, Ark. – For the first time in 2022, the Sugar Bears will be back in the Prince Center, as they host the Central Arkansas Invitational September 9th and 10th.
The Sugar Bears come into this weekend having dropped three matches last weekend in Houston, against some first time opponents, and will take on some more familiar foes in Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Illinois, and Louisiana Tech.
The Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks come into this weekend's tournament after a Tuesday night loss to Louisiana Tech 2-3. Led by Charlie Olson, the Warhawks make their way to Conway with a 3-4 record. The Warhawks have a few players worth noting coming into this weekend, in Madeline Williams and Bailey Roberson. Roberson, like Caylan Koons of the Sugar Bears, is off to a great start to her freshman year, tallying 225 assists thus far. Williams, however, is a graduate transfer from Indiana State, who is contributing 88 kills and 35 digs on the season. UCA is 5-2 all-time against the Warhawks, with the last meeting coming in 2020, where the two squads played twice, with the Sugar Bears winning both matches.
The Southern Illinois Salukis, coached by Ed Allen, come into this weekend with a record of 3-3, with their key wins being against UT Martin and Nicholls State. The Salukis have a couple of key players to keep an eye on while they play the Sugar Bears. Anna Jaworski is a sophomore setter from Naperville, Ill., who has contributed 211 assists, good for 10.05 assists per set. Tatum Tornatta, a junior from Evansville, Ind., adds 67 kills on the year, tallying 3.19 kills per set. The Salukis and Sugar Bears have only met once before, with the Sugar Bears winning in four sets back in September of 2018.
Led by Amber McCray, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs come into the Prince center fresh off of a win against in-state foe Louisiana-Monroe in five sets on Tuesday night, which lifted their record to 3-5 on the season. Before they took on the Warhawks on Tuesday, the Bulldogs dropped all three matches in a tournament in Fresno, Calif. A pair players to watch for the Bulldogs are Ashley Taylor and Ashley Jones. Taylor, a sophomore middle blocker from Vienna, Texas, has logged 74 kills and 11 digs so far. Jones, a redshirt-freshman setter from Hallsville, Texas, has 235 assists and 39 digs so far this year. The Sugar Bears are undefeated all-time against the Bulldogs (6-0) and last met in 2015, when the Sugar Bears took the match in straight sets.
The Sugar Bears will face Louisiana-Monroe on Friday September 9th at 10:00 a.m., Southern Illinois at 7:00 p.m., taking on Louisiana Tech on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. to end the tournament. Central Arkansas games will be broadcast on ESPN+, and all games will have live stats available, all of which can be found on the Sugar Bears' online schedule.
