CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas volleyball team is heading to Iowa this weekend for the final three games of a season-opening 10-game road trip. The Sugar Bears will compete in the Kwik Star Klassic in Iowa City against Texas Tech, West Florida and Iowa.
Central Arkansas (0-7) has had a slow start to the season, still looking for the first win of the campaign. The Sugar Bears are coming off a trip to the Pacific for two matches at Hawaii last week. Central Arkansas fell in straight sets in both matches, being led on the offensive front by
Sarah Carnathan with 16 kills on the week.
Carnathan leads the Sugar Bears so far this season with 45 kills, averaging 2.05 per set.
McKinzee Haas is right behind with 42 kills, averaging 2.00 per set and hitting .255. Haas also leads the team with 20 total blocks.
Tatelyn Brandsma looks to continue facilitating the offense coming off two matches in Hawaii where she tallied 35 total assists. Brandsma leads the team with 109 assists on the season, with 5.74 per set.
Cameron McDaniel leads the Sugar Bears in digs with 73 on the season, 3.17 per set.
Texas Tech (7-2) comes into the weekend riding a five-game win streak, including a win over a United Athletic Conference opponent in Tarleton State. The Red Raiders are led offensively by freshman Sara Bowcutt with 116, averaging 3.74 per set. Senior Katelyn Cochran leads Tech in assists with 259, 8.35 per set. Defensively, sophomore Shelby Ignash leads the team with 44 total blocks, 1.22 per set.
West Florida (6-1) enters the weekend coming off their first loss of the season to Tampa. Before suffering their first loss, the Argonauts had only lost three total sets on their six-game win streak. West Florida is led offensively by senior Emily Breazeale with 58 kills, averaging 2.42 per set. She is closely followed by senior Kumara Flanagain with 57 kills, 2.38 per set. Redshirt junior Delaney Hanowell has garnered attention on the defensive side, being selected as the ASUN Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week for the week of September 8. Hanowell leads the Argonauts with 39 total blocks, 1.70 per set.
Iowa (7-3) enters the weekend after a midweek win over Drake. The Hawkeyes are led offensively by fifth-year Liv Mogridge, with 97 kills, 3.03 per set. Mogridge also has 30 total blocks, averaging 0.94 per set. Senior Hannah Whittingstall leads Iowa with 35 total blocks, 1.00 per set.
The Sugar Bears will start the weekend against Texas Tech on Friday at 2 p.m., then the team will take on West Florida at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats will be available for both matches online from StatBroadcast. Central Arkansas will round out the weekend on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Iowa. That match will be live streamed on B1G+, radio broadcast will be available online from the Hawkeye Radio Network, and live stats will be available online.
