Dallas, Texas –

The Central Arkansas Tennis team travelled to Dallas, Texas to begin Southland Conference play against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. The Islanders (2-0) earned a decisive 6-1 victory over the Bears, who drop to 1-5 on the season.

All three doubles matches were closely fought, but all three went to the Islanders, who grabbed the doubles point for a 1-0 lead. The Islanders’ Doris Kuselj and Stefania Nicolae defeated Allison Murphy and Krizia Buck 8-7 (7-0), Sandra Burges and Chelsea Horan scored an 8-5 victory over Simona Horsikyan and Sasha Ruocco, and Mia Matuszak and Maider Martin defeated Kristina Horsikyan and Anna Buyukyan 8-6 to complete the sweep.

The Bears didn’t fare much better in singles play, as Simona Horsikyan provided Central Arkansas’ only point of the match when she took down Kuselj 6-0, 5-7, 10-4. Murphy fell to Martin 6-2, 6-2, while Buck lost to Burges 6-2, 6-1. Kristina Horsikyan was defeated by Nicolae 6-2, 6-3 and Ruocco suffered a 6-4, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Celia Rodriguez Delgado. Stephanie Gonzalez Valero lost to Leanne Mascall by a score of 6-2, 6-3 to bring the match to a close.

The match marks the end of a 6-match road trip to start the season for Central Arkansas. They look to rebound at home this weekend, hosting Murray State on Saturday and North Alabama on Sunday, before returning to conference play at home against Nicholls State on February 16.