The UCA volleyball Bears knocked the Tarleton TexAnns off of their saddle in a 3-0 victory during the Lion Invitational in Commerce, Texas.

The three games took place Aug. 30-31, with the two other games being against Texas A&M-Commerce and the Little Rock Trojans.

UCA (1-2) began its Aug. 30 game against Tarleton (0-3) with a service ace from junior setter Caylan Koons, the Bears taking ownership of the court within their first play.

The TexAnns quickly followed up with a kill shot by freshman outside hitter Tatum Busch.

The Bears went to gather 4 more points, including another service ace, this time from freshman outside hitter Regan Harp.

Tarleton eventually answered back with its second point of the morning with a kill by junior middle blocker Emma Burke.

The TexAnns then made their first substitute of the game, switching out junior outside hitter LaNeah Lara for sophomore defensive specialist/libero Carly Lange.

Sophomore outside hitter Laci Bohannan scored the Bears their sixth point of the set. Bohannan would go on to score the most points of the game, clocking in at a total of 17.5 points.

The two teams traded off the ball, point-after-point, until the Bears reached 10 points through a kill by sophomore middle blocker Greyson Button.

Harp continued to help lead the Bears with two kill shots back-to-back, 12-6.

The first set ended with Button’s second kill of the game, which put the Bears up 25-16, winning the first set. Bohannan and senior right-side hitter Mackenzie Vernon tied at the bottom of the first set, scoring 4 points each.

UCA started the second set with two subs — senior defensive specialist/libero Shelbi Owens and senior middle blocker Allison Holloway.

Holloway immediately shot out of the gate, scoring the first point of the second set with a kill shot.

The TexAnns took their first lead of the game following an attack error on Bohannan, a service ace from Busch and a kill by senior outside hitter Allison Bryant.

Tarleton went on a point streak for the first half of the second set, ending with two kills from sophomore middle blocker Madison Frank, the TexAnns in the lead, 10-3.

The Bears finally began to claw back with two kills by Button and one from Bohannan.

Bryant responded with another kill for Tarleton, but it was too late, as UCA went on to score 7 points straight, including three attack errors by the TexAnns, one bad set from Tarleton sophomore setter Yuna Ansquer and two service aces from junior defensive specialist/libero Alexis McDaniel. The Bears took the lead 13-11.

UCA continued to push its lead forward with a second bad set from Ansquer, another attack error from Busch as well as three kill shots by Holloway.

The TexAnns managed to hit the 15-point mark with a kill from sophomore right-side hitter Faith Wilkins, however, the Bears scored a slew of kills from Harp, Button and Bohannan, allowing UCA to pick up its second set of the game.

The third set commenced with a kill shot from Bryant, handing Tarleton its first point of the match.

The two teams traded off the lead with every point scored until the Bears squeezed ahead with an attack error on Bryant, a kill from Bohannan and a kill by Button.

The Bears continued to hold the lead as Bohannan scored a kill shot, putting the Bears ahead, 10-6.

The TexAnns finally hit their tenth point with an attack error by Bohannan, leaving Tarleton 8 points behind UCA’s 18 points.

The Bears then scored 4 points straight with two kills by Bohannan, one kill from Vernon and an attack error by Frank.

Tarleton responded with three kills in a row, putting them under the Bears 22-13.

With only 3 points left to win the set, the Bears bagged two kills, one from Bohannan and one from Button. The game ended with an attack error from Frank, handing the Bears the set 25-13, as well as the overall game, 3-0.

Although the Bears took home the victory against the TexAnns, they slipped up in their next two games of the Lion Invitational. UCA lost, 3-2, against Texas A&M-Commerce (2-1) at 7 p.m. August 30, then went on to lose, 3-0, against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (3-0) at 11 a.m. August 31.

The Bears next set of games will be at the Ram Volleyball Classic in Fort Collins, Colorado, Sept. 6-8, pitting them against Grand Canyon University (2-1), Colorado State (0-2) and the University of Oregon (1-1).