BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Central Arkansas Bears finally broke through into the win column against Southeast Louisiana on Saturday, but fell short in the final three games in Baton Rouge.
UCA 4 SELA 1
UCA had undoubtedly its best performance this season in Saturday morning's matchup with the Lions. The Bears gritted their way to the win, Ryenne Gepford and Bria Garmon set the tone with a dominant 21-9 first set victory and then edged out a victory in set two over SELA's No. 2 pairing of McGee and Wilks. Payton Sproule and Kayla Cook were on the wrong end of a 21-17 first set decision and battled back to take the second and third set to give UCA the lead.
Marissa Gilmore and Anna Linksey found themselves in a similar situation, losing the first set 21-17. They then stormed back to defeat SELA's No. 4 pairing of Ward and Lockwood and give UCA a 3-1 lead. Charlie Tidwell and Madelyn White got their second win on the year over the Lions No.5 pair of Tupper and Haerer.
With the win, UCA moves to 7-0 all-time over Southeastern Louisiana, all coming within the last three seasons.
UCA 1 UAB 4
Ultimately, this weekend's match with the Blazers ended much like the last match on February 26th. The Bears were able to get on the board thanks to a three-set win by Gepford and Garmon. The pair found themselves in a 1-0 hole and clawed their way back to win the second set 21-18 and the third set 15-10.
Tidwell and White had a chance to take down the No. 5 pairing of Stant and Wofford of UAB, but ultimately fell in the third set, 15-11. UCA falls to 0-2 on the year against UAB, but the two squads are scheduled to meet again on April 15th in Birmingham, Alabama for the Blazer Beach Bash.
UCA 0 No. 19 South Carolina 5
UCA's upset bid fell flat on Sunday morning, as they were shut out by the nationally ranked Gamecocks. South Carolina made quick work of the Bears, as well, with no Bear players even winning a set.
UCA falls to 0-2 all-time against South Carolina, with 5-0 losses in back-to-back seasons.
UCA 2 Tusculum 3
In the inaugural meeting between the Bears and Pioneers, Tusculum was the team that came out on top. The loss dropped UCA to 1-7 on the year ahead of next weekend's tournament in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Seniors Julia Oravec and Evelyn Griffith gutted out a 21-15 victory in the first set and then 21-16 in the second set over Tusculum's No. 1 pairing of Mercado and Pacione. Elsewhere, Gepford and Garmon won for the third time on the weekend in a three-set victory over the No. 2 pairing of Oppenhuis and Anderson.
UCA will have a weekend off before heading up to Clarksville, Tennessee to take on Austin Peay on Friday, March 17th. In the tournament, the Bears will also face Lindenwood and UT Martin.
