Conway – The Central Arkansas tennis team continued its home stand on Monday afternoon, hosting in-state opponent Arkansas State at the UCA Tennis Courts. The Bears were victorious in a hard-fought battle, taking down the Red Wolves 6-1 for their first ever win over Arkansas State.
Central Arkansas (4-0) opened the match on a roll, winning all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Nataly Yoo and Cassidy Crawford got things started in the no. 1 match with a 6-4 win over Julie Gauguery and Victoria Pisani, while Kelsey Williams and Allison Murphy defeated Tamara Slijepcevic and Sabina Jeresic 6-2 in the no. 2 match. Kristina Horsikyan and Bianca Strukelj won the no. 3 match, defeating Sofia Krsmanovic and Jess Heeps-Eriksen 6-0.
"We knew going into today that it was going to be a tough match. Arkansas State has always had a solid team, and we knew that we would have to earn every point we won," said Central Arkansas head coach Casey Wharton following the match.
Yoo got the Bears started off on the right foot in the no. 1 match, rallying from a first set loss to defeat Slijepcevic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the no. 1 match. Williams continued the Bears' success in the no. 2 match, beating Gauguery 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, while Horsikyan took down Pisani 7-5, 6-2 in
Central Arkansas only straight-set win of the day.
Heeps-Eriksen gave the Red Wolves (1-4) their lone point of the day, taking down Crawford 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 in the no. 4 match, but Murphy got the point back with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 win over Jeresic in the no. 5 match.
Strukelj closed out the match with a win for Central Arkansas, defeating Krsmanovic 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 in the no. 6 match.
"Our girls played great in the doubles, and kept momentum in the singles, winning five out six first sets," said Wharton. "I thought Arkansas State might let up, but they did the opposite. They stepped up their play and pushed several matches to third sets. But give credit to our girls, because we found a way to pull out the matches when it counted. It was an exhausting win, but a really solid performance. Now we turn our focus to SIU this coming weekend."
The Bears return to the court on Saturday, when they host Southern Illinois. The match will begin at 1:00 PM.
