HOUSTON, Texas – Central Arkansas dropped both matchups on Sunday, one to the familiar UAB Blazers, and another to the TCU Horned Frogs.
UCA 1 UAB 4
UCA finally gets on the board, having been shut out in Saturday's action despite battling to some tight first sets. Junior Charlie Tidwell and freshman Madelyn White got the first match win for UCA on the season over the No. 5 of Heflin and Stant, 21-14 and 21-16. Elsewhere, it was much like Saturday for the Bears, getting close, but unable to win sets. Kayla Cook and Payton Sproule won the first set against the Blazers' No. 4 team, 21-15, but ultimately dropped the second set, and fell 15-12 in the decisive third set.
Julia Oravec and Evelyn Griffith came within two of UAB's No. 2 pair, but fell in the second set 21-11. The Bears will get a few more shots at UAB this season, first with a trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana next weekend, and then in April, the Bears will head down to Birmingham, Alabama for the Blazer Beach Bash. UCA now moves to 0-3 all-time against the Blazers.
UCA 0 No. 3 TCU 5
The Bears ran into a buzzsaw in TCU on Sunday afternoon, as they were shut out again on the weekend. The No. 3 Horned Frogs are entering this season off a trip to the NCAA tournament, and won against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round, so UCA knew a challenge would be ahead. Griffith and Oravec were the closest to upsetting the Horned Frogs, but fell on the wrong end of two 21-14 sets.
The loss brings UCA to a 0-4 record on the early campaign, and 0-5 against TCU all-time.
UCA will be back in action on Saturday, March 4th in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they will take on Southeastern Louisiana at 10:00 a.m., and then UAB at 3:00 p.m. Then on Sunday, March 5th, UCA will take on South Carolina at 9:00 a.m. and Tusculum at 12:00 p.m.
