CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team is just about ready to get its season underway. The Sugar Bears are heading up to Columbia, Missouri to take part in the Mizzou Classic, then will head straight home to open the home slate against Michigan State on Sunday.
The Sugar Bears caught fire a few weeks into the conference slate last season, winning seven in a row and four in a row at points in the season. UCA played its way into the ASUN tournament in just the second year in the league, earning the No. 5 seed in Nashville. All in all, the Sugar Bears finished with a 19-11 record and an 11-5 record in ASUN play.
The Colgate Raiders are coming off a spectacular season which included a 24-6 record and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Raiders, coached by Ryan Baker return two of their top three leaders in kills from last season in junior Abby Shadwick and Sophomore Carlie Rzeszotarski. Colgate loses its leader in assists, but junior Sydney Jones was a close second with 512 assists in 2022 and will be back in the lineup in 2023. UCA hasn't played the Raiders since 2007, when the Sugar Bears fell in three sets in Hamilton, N.Y.
The Illinois State Redbirds finished 2022 with a disappointing 12-17 mark but boasted wins at Cincinnati and versus No. 25 Illinois. The Redbirds will have their leader in kills, Aida Shadewald, back for her sophomore season, who had 303 kills in the 2022 season. Sophomore setter Emily Weber, the team leader in assists in 2022 with 495, will also be back in 2023 and should be a player to watch for the Redbirds. Illinois State has the edge over UCA all time, with a four-set win over the Sugar Bears back in 2014.
The Missouri Tigers, coached by Dawn Sullivan, are the second power-five opponent that the Sugar Bears will square off with this weekend. The Tigers' 2022 campaign was a little disappointing, finishing with a 9-19 and a 2-16 SEC record. Mizzou lost its top two kills leaders going into this season, but the Tigers will have right side Jordan Ilif, who had 227 kills last season. The Sugar Bears are 0-2 all-time against Mizzou, with back-to-back losses in 2010 and 2011. While UCA hasn't had a great deal of success against the opponents in the Mizzou Classic, the matches took place when a lot of the Sugar Bears' roster was in elementary school, so this weekend should be a great opportunity for this year's team to turn a new leaf.
The Sugar Bears will return home on Sunday afternoon to open the home slate against the Michigan State Spartans. MSU finished off with a 13-18 2022 paired with a 4-16 record in the Big Ten, an extremely talented league a season ago. The Spartans will be coming down from Fayetteville after taking on No. 25 Arkansas and Tulsa in the Razorback Classic. The Spartans return junior outside hitter Aliyah Moore who led the team with 322 kills in 2022, as well as sophomore outside hitter Maradith O'Gorman who was second on the Spartans with 260 kills a season ago. MSU, however, did lose its leader in assists from a season ago, but will have junior setter Julia Bishop who was second on the team last year with 257 assists.
Sunday's match will not only be the inaugural matchup between the Sugar Bears and Spartans, but it will also be the first stand-alone match against a power-five opponent ever in the Prince Center. The Prince center saw great crowds and big-time opponents in 2022, but Sunday's match could overshadow all of them.
The Sugar Bears will start off this weekend's tournament against Colgate on Friday, August 25th at 1:00 p.m., then will continue Saturday, August 26th at 10:00 a.m. against Illinois State. UCA will cap off the tournament on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against Missouri, which fans can watch on SEC Network+. The Sugar Bears will open the home slate on Sunday, August 27th at 5:00 p.m. Fans can watch on ESPN+ and follow along on Twitter all season long at @UCAVball.
