Conway – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears took to the UCA Tennis Courts for the final time this season on Sunday, playing host to the Incarnate Word Cardinals. After honoring the career accomplishments of seniors Nataly Yoo and Krizia Buck, the Sugar Bears pushed their winning streak to five matches, edging out UIW 4-3.

Xylia Chunan Xiang and Amiru Shimoguchi gave the Sugar Bears (13-6, 5-4 SLC) an early edge in for the doubles point, taking the no. 1 match 6-4 over Rachel Sadiq and Matea Zemunik. Taryn Strahl and Sarah Savedra got the Cardinals back in it in the no. 2 match, outlasting Buck and Yoo 7-6, before QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat got the point for UCA, improving their season record to 14-4 thanks to a 7-5 win over Antea Dedic and Victoria Kareh in the no. 3 match.

UCA extended its lead early in singles play, as Ma scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kareh in the no. 4 match to move to 13-6 on the season. Yoo took the first set of her no. 1 match against Sadiq by a score of 6-2, before the Cardinal rebounded to win the second set 6-4. After that, Yoo was forced to retire, giving Sadiq the win and putting UIW (2-18, 0-10 SLC) on the board . Buck pushed the UCA lead back to two points, winning the no.6 match 6-4, 6-4 over Maria Batchinsky to improve to 6-1 on the season.  Shimoguchi then got what would prove to be the match-winner, defeating Strahl 6-4, 7-6 in the no. 3 match to move to 16-3 on the year. UIW got the final two points, when Zemunick rebounded in the no. 2 match to defeat Xiang 2-6, 7-5, 7-5, and Savedra overcame a 1-0 deficit to take down Manataweewat 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.

Central Arkansas closes the regular season on a three-match road trip, which begins with a pair of matches next weekend. The Sugar Bears will take on the top two teams in the Southland Conference next weekend, as they battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, before facing off with Abilene Christian on Friday.