CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team picked up a dominant win on senior day at the Prince Center against Bellarmine. The win lifted the Sugar Bears to 8-18 and 2-12 in the ASUN.
On Sunday, in front of a crowd of 331, the Sugar Bears honored Macy Blackburn, April Conant, Lexie Gregory, and Charleston Tidwell. The crowd helped carry the Sugar Bears into the match after a slow start in set one. Bellarmine opened up a 6-1 lead early on, and then eventually forced UCA to call a timeout with an 11-4 lead. UCA immediately ran off five straight points out of the timeout to get themselves right back into the set. With the score 14-10 in favor of the Knights, the Sugar Bears went on one of their longest runs of the season, scoring ten straight, including five aces from Gregory. UCA would finish off the Knights in the first set with a strong finish to take the opening frame, 25-18.
UCA carried some confidence from winning the opening set, taking a 7-4 lead early on. UCA ran up the lead to 13-7, but the Knights immediately ran off five straight to make it a one point game at 13-12. The two teams would keep things close at 17-15, then UCA ran off four straight to take a 21-15 lead. UCA did a good job of protecting the lead down the stretch, getting kills from Tidwell and Mackenzie Vernon to seal the set win, 25-21.
The Sugar Bears and Knights started things slow, each team feeling it out and waiting to strike. The Knights had the first big run of the set, taking a 10-8 lead. The Sugar Bears responded nicely with four in a row to take a 12-10 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. A big run of five straight would take UCA to an 18-13 lead, which the Knights would counter with three in a row. The Sugar Bears responded almost perfectly, with seven of the last eight points of the match, taking the third set, 25-17.
Gregory had a career high in aces with six and threw in five digs as well. Laci Bohannan led the team in kills with 11 kills to go along with 10 digs and two aces. Tidwell was not far behind, totaling 10 kills in her final home match as a Sugar Bear. Caylan Koons finished with 28 kills, eight digs, and two aces. The Sugar Bears finished Sunday with a season-high in aces in a single match with 14.
The Sugar Bears will finish the season on the road on Thursday, November 9th at Lipscomb and Friday, November 10th at Austin Peay.
