FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Central Arkansas volleyball team endured a grueling, five-set match, but emerged victorious to claim its first win in an ASUN Championship. The Sugar Bears downed the Ospreys 3-2 in their quarterfinal match, claiming the fifth set 15-12.
 
Freshman Regan Harp led the team with 15 kills, one of four Sugar Bears to notch double-digits in the match. Harp also led the team with 23 digs, and the ASUN Setter of the Year Caylan Koons tallied 57 assists.
 
The opening set was very back and forth, with neither side claiming a lead bigger than three until the Sugar Bears went up 23-19. But throughout the set, Central Arkansas was able to keep the Ospreys off track, benefiting from ten UNF errors. Meanwhile, the Sugar Bears hit just 24 percent themselves, not producing errors, but also not finishing points until a second or even third attack. But Central Arkansas kept swinging, and let a North Florida error decide the final point in the first.
 
North Florida regrouped in the second set, bursting out to a 5-1 lead, one that eventually grew to an 11-5 lead. The Sugar Bears continued to battle, but couldn't quite climb out of the deficit, cutting the lead to three or four multiple times before the Ospreys pulled away to take set two.  
 
Neither team could grab a lead in the third set, with both teams trading it back and forth until the score was tied at 8-8. But then Central Arkansas went on a 7-1 run to break it open to 15-9. North Florida was able to battle it back in, cutting the Sugar Bear lead to two points at 20-18. But three kills, one from Laci Bohannan, one from Harp, and one from Allison Holloway, gave Central Arkansas a four-point lead deep into the set, allowing the Sugar Bears to take a 2-1 advantage.
 
The fourth set was similar to the third, in that both teams were neck and neck for the first half of the set; the largest lead through 16 points was just four points, part of a 4-1 burst by the Ospreys to claim a 16-12 advantage. The lead deficit grew to six points as the Ospreys thought to take control. But Central Arkansas wasn't done, putting together a 10-4 run to tie the match at 25-25. But a kill from UNF and a Sugar Bear error let the fourth slip away, requiring a fifth set in the opening match of the ASUN Championship.
 
North Florida continued to ride its momentum as the fifth set opened, taking a 10-6 lead on a service ace. But the Sugar Bears, who were relying on some substitutes late in the game, put a 6-0 run of their own together to take a 12-10 lead, thanks to three kills from Button. UNF tried to recover and hold firm to get back into it, but Lilly Taylor and Mackenzie Vernon tallied kills late, with Vernon's being the deciding point.
 
Taylor, who came in for the fourth and fifth sets, had eight kills on just 16 attempts, adding an ace to tally nine points in her limited action. But her efforts were key to the late push, as the senior came in and flipped momentum for the Sugar Bears.
 
Central Arkansas advances to its first ASUN Semifinal since joining the conference, and now await the winner of Lipscomb and North Alabama for tomorrow's match. First serve for the semifinal is set for 4 p.m. CT.