Nacogdoches, Texas – The Central Arkansas women's tennis team returned to action on Wednesday to take on one of the top teams in the Southland Conference. The Bears came up just short, falling to the second-ranked Ladyjacks of Stephen F. Austin 4-3.

The teams made the decision to play singles first on the day, as the Bears (8-5, 3-5 SLC) were participating in the first of four matches for them this week. The Bears got a victory from Kristina Horsikyan in the no. 3 match, where she defeated Denise Maxi 6-4, 6-4, while Allison Murphy scored a 7-6, 7-6 win over Dhanielly Quevedo in the no.4 match. Cassidy Crawford rallied for the victory in the no. 5 match, dropping the first set 4-6, before picking up the win by taking the next two sets 6-4, 6-0.

The Ladyjacks (14-6, 8-1 SLC) saw Malena Gordo take down Nataly Yoo 6-
1, 6-4 in the no. 1 match, Vivienne Kulicke defeat Kelsey Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the no. 2 match, and Julia Lorca beat Bianca Strukelj 7-5, 6-1 in the no. 6 match.

The Ladyjacks took all three doubles matches to secure the victory.

"Today was a back and forth battle," said Central Arkansas head Coach Casey Wharton following the match. "SFA has been leading the conference, but we feel like if we play well, we have a chance to beat anybody. We played hard and won matches at three, four, and five, while they took matches at one, two, and six. We ended up losing in doubles, but I was really pleased with Allison and Kristina getting straight set wins on the road. But today Cassidy really stepped up for us and put us in a position to win. She was the last singles match and she was a set down, and we needed her match to even play doubles. She fought hard to get the second set, and then rolled in the third. Although we lost, I was really pleased with how well we did."

The Bears will take on Incarnate Word tomorrow at noon in College Station, Texas.