Conway – Just eleven hours after finishing a grueling eight hour marathon match against Lamar on Saturday night, the Central Arkansas women's tennis team returned to the courts for a Southland Conference match against Sam Houston State. The Bears turned in a gutsy performance, earning a 4-3 win.
The Bears (8-4, 3-4 SLC) swept the doubled matches to secure a 1-0 lead after the first leg of the match. In the no. 1 match, Nataly Yoo and Cassidy Crawford evened their season record at 5-5 with an 8-6 win over Olivia Battye and Mila Mianovic. The no. 2 match saw Kelsey Williams and Allison Murphy improve to 10-1 on the year with an 8-2 win over Bailey Van Dyke and Karen Martinez, while in the no. 3 match Kristina Horsikyan and Bianca Strukelj moved to 8-3 on the year with a 7-5 win over Maddie Mortimore and Fabienne Gettwart.
The doubles point would prove to be key, as UCA and SHSU (0-11, 0-5 SLC) would split the singles matches. Yoo improved to 8-2 on the year, defeating Battye 6-1, 6-2 in the no. 1 match, while Horsikyan moved to 8-3 on the season with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Milanovic. Murphy gave the Bears their final point of the match, taking down Van Dyke 6-2, 6-1 to improve to 10-2 on the season. The Bearkats got a win in the no. 2 match, where Gettwart defeated Williams 6-2, 6-1. In the no. 5 match, Martinez defeated Crawford 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, and in the no. 6 match Mortimore took down Strukelj 6-3, 6-1.
"Today was about survival," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton.
"Everybody was tired and stiff from the marathon we played yesterday, and we were also a bit deflated that we played so long and hard and still somehow came up short. So we knew that coming into today it wasn't going to be our best tennis. But it was also about finding a way to win, even if it wasn't pretty; and that's what we did. We found a way. Sam Houston had a team filled with girls that were very gracious, but they played really hard and they didn't give us the win; they made us earn it. And for that I am pleased that we were able to make that happen."
The Bears hit the road next weekend, traveling to San Antonio, Texas on Saturday to take on Incarnate Word and Belton, Texas to battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
