Sugar Bears resume play as they head to Missouri State

CONWAY, Ark. — By the time that Saturday rolls around, it will have been 29 days since UCA's last volleyball match. So it only makes sense that the Sugar Bears exit hibernation to face off against their Bear counterpart, Missouri State University.

After postponing the last seven games due to health issues, UCA is back and primed to revamp their season after initially starting 0-2. Not many teams get a restart, but it seems like the Sugar Bears will as they travel to Springfield to take on MSU (1-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The Sugar Bears search for an opportunity to get back in the zone as they face a relatively new opponent in Missouri State. This bear brawl has only happened once before, and that was back in 2012. In that first matchup, the Springfield Bears took a nail biter as they sealed it in the fifth set to give them the 1-0 all-time lead. With both sides bringing first-year coaches to the table, no party from that first game is still at either institution, allowing both teams to have a clean slate heading into the match.

For the Sugar Bears to get one in the win column against a highly competitive team, they need their leaders to show out as they did against Texas State during the season opener. During that matchup, redshirt senior Amanda Beaton set a career-high with 24 kills. Alongside her senior Bailey Waddington tied her career-high with 51 assists.

While those two anchor the offensive side, a few other veteran players help propel the defense. Senior Emily Doss is a key defensive specialist for this squad as she leads the team with 3.22 digs per set. However, before anyone can get to Doss, they have to get past the block party duo of junior Ravin Rhodes and senior Amari Mitchell. Rhodes currently sits at five blocks on the season, while Mitchell is at three this season. These athletes help propel the UCA squad, but they will have a tough one against this young Missouri State team.

The MSU Bears, coached by former UCA head coach Steven McRoberts, are led by sophomores Brooklyn Chink and Kennedee Anderson and freshman Caly Otec. After the Bears' lone game on the season, Chink has a team-high 20 kills, Anderson has a team-high 37 assists and Otec has a team-high 14 digs.

These statistics turn this matchup into the battle of the opposites as the youthful MSU Bears take on the veteran UCA Sugar Bears. The match is set for 3 p.m. this Saturday (Oct. 3) at the Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Mo.

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"We are very excited to finally get back to competition after being away because of COVID protocols," head coach John Newberry said. "We will be traveling a smaller crew for this game and will look completely different. It will be a whole new team dynamic on the road that we will have to adjust to quickly."

"This will be a huge opportunity for some of our younger players to gain playing experience. We normally drive up the day before and get a practice in so we can get used to the surroundings and depth perception," Newberry said. "For this trip, we will only have a quick 30 minute time to adjust before warmup begins, in order to help decrease the chance of contracting COVID, making this a quick trip makes the most sense."