CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team lost a highly competitive match to Colorado State in five sets.
Following the loss, the Sugar Bears drop to 2-5 on the young season, with a 1-2 weekend. UCA is coming close to breaking through this season, but Sunday proved to be another bump in the road in the early going for UCA.
UCA got off to a much better start than Saturday's match versus SLU. While it took the Sugar Bears a little longer to take control of the game, they stood their ground and didn't get in a hole early. UCA took an 11-6 lead and set a rhythm that they could stick with for the rest of the set, The Sugar Bears got a lot of things to go their way in the opening frame, including two kills from setter Caylan Koons and a handful of kills from Charleston Tidwell to close things out and take set one from the visiting Rams, 25-20.
It was the second set where the Rams would flash their size and athletic ability throughout. The Rams didn't have any crazy dominant stretches in the second frame, but they were able to string together a few rallies and were able to outlast UCA's attempts to claw back in it. A service ace is what sealed the deal in the second, with the Rams taking it 25-19.
UCA had done a good job at bouncing back over the weekend but didn't always get the results it was looking for. This time however, the Sugar Bears started out hot and opened an 8-2 lead. The Sugar Bears had three runs of three or more points in a row, including the final three points of the set, to help power past the rams in the third frame. The final run came to be due to kills from Tidwell and Allison Holloway, who were both huge in this match, and the Sugar Bears took a 2-1 advantage, 25-17.
Early on it looked like UCA would control the fourth set, taking a 7-3 lead, but the Rams quickly came to life and soon took five straight points and a 12-9 advantage. After the Sugar Bears answered, the Rams took four in a row again, and this time they would not relent the lead. After some more back-and-forth, the Rams rattled off five in a row to take a 22-15 lead, and would cruise to a set victory, 25-19.
The decisive fifth set featured some heart-pounding action the whole way, with neither team able to get separation almost the whole way. A kill from Caylan Koons gave the Sugar Bears a razor thin 12-11 advantage late, but UCA thought it would have the inside track down the stretch. Instead, the Rams were the team that was finally able to string together a run. The Rams got four straight points to take the final set, 15-12.
In the defeat, Tidwell had a career afternoon, blowing past her career high with 19 kills on Sunday. Mackenzie Vernon totaled double digit kills in back-to-back matches with 12, and the Sugar Bears are hopeful that can continue moving forward. Koons had her third straight match with 40+ assists and fourth this season, finishing with 47 assists and seven kills, setting a new career high. Holloway and Lilly Taylor were also big for the Sugar Bears with eight kills apiece.
The Sugar Bears will get back in action next weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the Tulsa Invitational against UT Arlington, Oral Roberts, and the host University of Tulsa from Friday, September 8th to Saturday, September 9th.
