CONWAY, ARKANSAS – The University of Incarnate Word volleyball team dropped their first conference match of the season against the University of Central Arkansas25-18, 25-20, 25-23 on Saturday at the Prince Center.

The first set started out with a kill by Autumn Lockley (Leander/Leander HS) to give the Cardinals (2-8, 0-1) the early advantage to begin the match.  Unfortunately, that would be the only lead for UIW in the first set.  The Sugar Bears (6-9, 2-1) scored four straight points early in the set to give them an 11-7 point lead.  It was not until a kill by Sarea Alexander (San Antonio/MacArthur HS) and an attack error by Fulani Petties, that the Cardinals put together back-to-back points to cut the Sugar Bear lead to 23-18, but UCA was able to finish out the set.

In the second set, the Cardinals jumped out to a 5-2 lead after four errors by the Sugar Bears.  However, Central Arkansas would rally back to take the lead 6-5 as UIW committed three straight errors themselves.  The set remained very close after a kill by Shaina Garza (San Antonio/Warren HS) to cut the UCA lead to 17-15, but that is as close as the Cardinals would get as the Sugar Bears would hold on for the 25-20 set win.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead in the third set with the help of errors by Central Arkansas.  UIW held a 10-5 lead in the closely contested set, but the Sugar Bears found a way to bounce back from their slow start.  After the early portion of the set, the teams were never separated by more than three points the rest of the way to the finish.  The turning point in the set occurred when Heather Schnars recorded a late kill for the Sugar Bears to give them a narrow 23-22 point advantage.  After that kill, Central Arkansas was able to continue their momentum and finish the set 25-23.

For the match, Lockley led the Cardinals with six kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Lockley also had two assists and three digs to complete her day.  Alexander also had six kills for the match while producing a .444 hitting percentage. Leading the team in assists was Kaitlyn Brooks who had 13 on the day.

Next up for the Cardinals is Stephen F. Austin on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the McDermott Convocation Center as UIW will play their first home match of the 2015 season.  
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