Box Score LAKE CHARLES – McNeese found itself in a 2-0 hole against Central Arkansas in Southland Conference volleyball action on Wednesday night but a rally to a third set win was following by a near win in the fourth set before falling 31-29 as UCA took the match.
 
The Cowgirls (2-3 overall and SLC) dropped the first two sets by identical 25-20 scores before winning the third set by a 25-23 margin.
 
In the fourth set, McNeese held four set points with a 24-20 lead but UCA (4-5, 2-2) got a kill from four different players for its next four points and took advantage of two Cowgirl attack errors to grab a 25-24 lead.
 
McNeese's Alexis Lambert, who led the Cowgirls with 16 kills in the match while hitting .306, tied the match with a kill. The two teams traded points and McNeese held set point at 27-26 following another Lambert kill. UCA held match point at 29-28 when Regan Stiawalt tied the set at 29-29 with her ninth kill of the match.
 
UCA followed with a kill by Charlie Tidwell then an attack error by the Cowgirls gave the Sugar Bears the victory.
 
"For this team, we are five games into a season together and we're still learning how to compete and start off fast," said head coach Kristee Porter. "We do a great job once we get into the meat of the match of competing. We're starting off a little slow and that's really what we need to focus on."
 
UCA used several multiple-point runs to win the first and second sets.
 
In the first and with the set tied at 12-12, the Sugar Bears scored four straight points to open up a 16-12 lead. Then after the Cowgirls closed the gap to 17-14 after a couple of kills by Lambert and Kendall Glueck, UCA rolled off four more straight points to take a 21-14 advantage.
 
The second set was almost identical. With McNeese trailing 12-11 after a Macee Krpec kill, the Sugar Bears scored three straight to build a 15-11 lead.
 
McNeese rallied back to take a 19-18 lead following a UCA ball handling error but that led into a run that saw the Sugar Bears score seven of the next eight points to win the set by a 25-20 score.
 
The Cowgirls controlled the third set, leading from start to finish and building as high as a 13-5 lead early on before UCA once again posted a rally, this time outscoring McNeese 12-4 to tie things up at 17-17.
 
But McNeese held strong and scored four straight points behind three UCA attack errors and a Lambert service ace. The Cowgirls put the set away with a kill by Glueck to put McNeese on the board, trailing 2-1.
 
Glueck added 13 kills for the Cowgirls with a game-high .357 hitting percentage. Baylee Laskoskie recorded 27 assists and 11 digs to finish with a double-double. Lambert added 10 digs to go along with her 16 kills to add a double-double.
 
The fourth set was the most competitive of the four as the stanza saw four lead changes and 12 ties.
 
The Cowgirls will return to action on Saturday when they visit HBU at 6:30.