CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas volleyball team heads back to Texas to compete in UTSA's Roadrunner Classic. The Sugar Bears will play three matches across the weekend, starting with the Roadrunners on Friday at 10 a.m. The team follows that up with Sam Houston Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., and wraps up on Saturday playing Alabama at 11 a.m.
Central Arkansas looks to get back in the win column after playing three tough matches in Colorado last week. Despite falling in all three, the team played some solid volleyball against the likes of Grand Canyon, Colorado State and Oregon.
Caylan Koons continues to be a force at setter, ranking second in the ASUN with 9.48 assists per set, and she's sending the ball all over the place, with six Sugar Bears racking up at least 35 kills through six matches.
Laci Bohannan leads the way with 71, while
Mackenzie Vernon (49),
Greyson Button (42) and
Allison Holloway (40) are all at the 40-kill mark.
UTSA hosts its tournament after starting the season 3-4. The Roadrunners spent last weekend hosting its first tournament of the season, defeating Holy Cross and Abilene Christian to get a couple more wins under their belt. Mia Soerensen leads the team with 85 kills while hitting .314, but the Roadrunners do a lot of their work by committee, with multiple players recording 30-plus kills, 40-plus assists and 50-plus digs, among other balanced numbers.
Sam Houston State is 3-3 entering the weekend, most recently playing a tournament at Oral Roberts. The Bearkats defeated the hosting Golden Eagles and Bethune-Cookman to enter this week with a bit of momentum. Sam Houston's stats look a little more like the Sugar Bears, with a primary setter in Avery Fowler (191 assists) and a bevy of attackers (eight with double-digit kills).
Alabama is 5-1 after a 2-1 showing this past weekend, defeating Prairie View A&M and Alabama State before falling to Arizona. Three of the five wins for the Crimson Tide have come against SWAC programs, the other two coming against The Citadel and UT Martin. Alabama has seen strong play from its two setters, Callie Kieffer (126 assists) and Kayla Keshock (103 assists), as well as quality defense from Chaise Campbell (23.0 blocks) and Sophie Agee (39 digs, 12.0 blocks).
The Sugar Bears start the weekend on Friday, facing UTSA at 10 a.m. and Sam Houston at 4 p.m. Central Arkansas closes out the Roadrunner Classic against Alabama on Saturday at 11 a.m. The UTSA and Alabama matches will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available for all matches.
