CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas volleyball team is closing out its homestand Saturday afternoon against Tarleton State at 1 p.m. The Sugar Bears are currently tied for second place in the UAC with a 5-2 conference record coming into Saturday's match, while the Texans sit in 5th place in the standings.
The Sugar Bears (5-12, 5-2 UAC) are entering off a gutsy win over Little Rock on Tuesday. Central Arkansas won the first two sets before the Trojans took the next two sets to force set five. The Sugar Bears tied the fifth set at nine, then went on to win four out of the next five rallies to take a 13-10 lead, ultimately winning the set and the match.
Sarah Carnathan led the Sugar Bears in the victory with a double-double in the match, recording 13 kills and 15 digs, adding three blocks, an ace and an assist to her 15.5-point line.
McKinzee Haas also had a big hand in the win, driving home seven kills on 13 swings, hitting .462 in the match, adding seven digs and six blocks.
Last time the two teams met, Central Arkansas took the win in reverse sweep fashion, winning the final three sets after dropping the first two. The Sugar Bears hit a season best .323 as a team in the five-set win, with
Tatelyn Brandsma putting up double-double numbers with career highs in assists with 44 and digs with 11.
Ella Chaney led the Sugar Bears in kills with 13, while
Greyson Button tied her career high in kills with 12, hitting .600 in the match.
The Texans (8-12, 4-3 UAC) come in off back-to-back sweeps over Abilene Christian and Little Rock. The win over Little Rock marked Tarleton State's first win on the road so far this season, previously being 0-8.
Alyssa Dinh leads the conference in hitting percentage at .378 with 126 kills on the season, she also leads the team in blocks with 58, averaging 0.82 per set. Leddy Rae Guinn ranks third in the conference in digs per set with 337 digs averaging 4.62 per set.
First serve at the Prince Center is set for 1 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available online.
