Volleyball bounces back to beat the Sugar Bears 3-2

FLORENCE, Ala. (October 30, 2024) – The University of North Alabama volleyball team picked up a third win in the Atlantic Sun Conference on Wednesday night, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears, 3-2, at CB&S Bank Arena.

The Lions (14-10, 8-3 ASUN) faced the Sugar Bears (12-10, 9-2) in the second meeting of the season, looking to even the series after a loss in the conference opener on Sept. 20. In a matchup between two of the top four teams in the ASUN, UNA got off to a slow start with Central Arkansas jumping out to a 2-0 lead.

The Lions responded with a decisive win in the third set and used the momentum to spark a strong defensive fourth set to send the match to a fifth set. North Alabama saved its best for last in the finale, using effective offense to secure the come-back victory.

The Lions now move ahead of EKU in the top four of the ASUN standings, while Central Arkansas is tied for second with just its second loss. UNA has five games remaining and is just two games back of league leader FGCU at 10-1.

It was all hands on deck in the big win, with players setting personal bests and school records all around.

Educated Jasmine Brooks was the highlight of UNA’s “Fright Night” game career-high 35 kills on a .457 hitting percentage. The Toney, Ala. native. tied an all-time school record 36 kills set by Yana Ninova on November 11, 2003. She is the first player to record 30 kills in a Division I match at UNA and the first to reach that mark since Lexie Bradley in 2017 against UAH (34).

Freshman Kinslee McGowan had the best performance of his young career, with a career-high 55 assists to set a new Division I program record. McGowan also had a career-high five blocks on the night as a freshman Audrey Small tied her career-high with another 30-game hitting streak.

Joining Brooks among the kill leaders were freshmen Reese Rickettswho finished with 18 kills, Junior Hayley Martin secured eight for third place. McGowan led all setters in assists, while Ricketts led with three service aces. McGowan contributed an extra ace and freshman Lankford Gurner landed a crucial service ace for momentum in the fourth set.

Small led in digs, followed by senior Katy Floyd (12) and second student Olivia Fenoff (11), and second student Meredith Brown tallied a match-high six blocks to round out UNA’s leaderboard. McGowan and freshmen Autumn Holmes contributed five blocks, both career highs.

HOW IT SEEN

SET 1: UCA 25, UNA 17

Central Arkansas started strong in the opening set, using its offense to take the early set lead. UCA secured 15 kills in the set and also took advantage of a slow start from North Alabama. The teams went back and forth early, but the Sugar Bears were able to take a 10-8 lead toward the midway point. UCA responded with a subsequent 9-2 run to take a 19-10 lead, and saw out the set with a 25-17 victory in the first set.

SET 2: UCA 25, UNA 23

Both teams came to play in the second set, but it was the Sugar Bears who did just enough to take the contest frame. North Alabama secured more kills (17-14) and hit for a higher hitting percentage (.279 to .237), but the service line and net defense made the difference for UCA.

SET 3: UNA 26, UCA 24

The Lions responded in a decisive third set, using the power of their offense to win the frame and gain momentum in the match. UNA hit .250 in the set, but secured its highest kill total of any set with 18. An inspired Brooks led the charge for the Lions with 10 kills, pacing UNA en route to holding off Central Arkansas in a blowout -two situation . The set proved to be competitive, with both teams tied 13 times with seven lead changes, but the Lions showed resilience to take the set, 26-24.

SET 4: UNA 25, UCA 15

Defense was the name of the game in set four, with the Lions showing their might from the net to energize the UCA offense. North Alabama recorded eight blocks in the frame, forcing UCA to a negative-.200 attack percentage. The biggest moment of the set came with UNA trailing 9-8 when a 7-0 Lion run was fueled by five blocks. The freshman tandem of Holmes and McGowan secured three straight to begin the run, followed by a UCA timeout. The break in action had no effect on the Lions as they went on another 3-0 run with blocks from Holmes and Ricketts. North Alabama also had a strong set from serve with three aces, leading to a winner-take-all fifth set.

SET 5: UNA 15, UCA 8

In the Lions’ crunch time, North Alabama was able to play its most effective set to ride the momentum and take the game against Central Arkansas. UNA hit for a highly efficient .667 hitting percentage, also securing as many kills (8) as the total points scored by the Sugar Bears. The Lions received additional contributions from the defense and service lines, collecting three blocks and an ace in a strong set for UNA. Brooks added five kills to tie the 2003 record for kills, but came up just one short. The night from CB&S Bank Arena ended with a Lions victory, taking the set, 15-8, to complete the rally in Florence.

UP NEXT

North Alabama’s next outing comes Nov. 3 against North Florida, against the Ospreys at 1 p.m. from CB&S Bank Arena.

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