CONWAY, Ark. — The Central Arkansas volleyball team (0-11, 0-1) lost to Eastern Kentucky (11-2, 1-0) 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25) on Thursday night in the teams' first home match of the season.
Ella Chaney set a new career high in kills with 19, while
Nicole Sargent tied her career high with 12.
Sophie Skinner led the match with 38 assists.
Central Arkansas made its main push late in the first set, scoring six straight points to move within one point with the score 21-20. Chaney had four kills during that stretch, and the Sugar Bears added two blocks while
McKinzee Haas served the final five points of the run. EKU answered with a 4-0 run to take the set 25-20.
The Sugar Bears went on a 9-1 run in the second set to build a 14-7 lead behind strong front row play with blocks by
Karlyn Frazier, Fiona VanDyke and
Sophie Skinner. The Colonels later cut a 22-16 Central Arkansas advantage to 22-21, but the Sugar Bears closed the set with late kills from VanDyke, Haas and Chaney for a 25-22 set win.
Central Arkansas put itself in position to take the third set, moving from 22-22 to a 24-22 edge on an Eastern Kentucky service error and Chaney's kill from Skinner. EKU answered with the final four points, pushing the set to extra points at 24-24 before two Central Arkansas attack errors ended a 26-24 set for the Colonels.
Central Arkansas opened the fourth set with four consecutive points behind kills from Sargent, Frazier and Chaney, but the Colonels moved in front at 8-7, and build a 24-17 lead. The Sugar Bears answered with four straight points, getting a Sargent-Frazier block, a
Trinity Hamilton ace and an EKU attack error to pull within three at 24-21. EKU closed the set 25-21, to take the match 3-1.
Ella Chaney
- Career high 19 kills
- 20.5 points
- 8 digs
- .313 hitting percentage
Sophie Skinner
- 38 assists
- 9 digs
- 6 kills on .455 hitting
- 1 block
Nicole Sargent
- Tied career high 12 kills
- 13 digs
- 5 total blocks
- 14.5 points
Karlyn Frazier
- 5 total blocks
- 4 kills
- 4 digs
Up next, the Central Arkansas volleyball team hosts Austin Peay on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Prince Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with live stats available online.
