Abilene, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears closed out their Southland Conference schedule at Abilene Christian on Saturday. The Bears fell to the second-place Wildcats 5-2, but secured a spot in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament after finishing the conference season with a 5-6 record.

Abilene Christian (18-6, 8-2 SLC) got the early edge for the doubles point as Erin Walker and Whitney Williams dropped Xylia Chunan Xiang and Marli Van Heerden 6-0 in the no. 1 match, before Krizia Buck and Amiru Shimoguchi evened the doubles contest at 1-1 with a 6-1 win over Nada Marjanovic and Andrea Crook in the no. 3 match. Lucile Pothier and Kaysie Hermsdorf secured the doubles point for the Wildcats with a 6-4 win over QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat in the no. 2 match.

Shimoguchi quickly got Central Arkansas (13-8, 5-6 SLC) on the board in singles play, taking the no. 2 match 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 from Hermsdorf to move her record to 17-3 on the season. The Wildcats regained the lead with wins in the next three matches however, as Walker defeated Xiang 7-5, 6-4 in the no. 1match, Pothier took down Ma 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 in the no. 3 match, and Marjanovic scored a 6-2, 6-2 win over Van Heerden in the no. 4 match.

Buck responded with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Jordan Henry in the no. 6 match, before Williams closed out the match by edging out Manataweewat by a score of 6-2, 1-6, 10-6 in the
no. 5 match.

"Both matches this weekend were played hard, but weren't necessarily our best," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton. "I think that we played well in doubles in both matches, and I was pleased with our energy and execution as a team. However, as a team, we will continue to improve our ability to gain the momentum, and to keep the momentum. We saw this weekend how quickly we can lose that, and how hard it is to get it back, especially against good teams. I am encouraged by how well we played against some of the best teams in the conference this weekend, and I believe that we can play with anybody in the Southland."

The Sugar Bears close out the regular season on the road next Friday, travelling to Ruston, Louisiana to battle Louisiana Tech at 3:00 PM. Central Arkansas will then head to Nacogdoches, Texas for the Southland Conference Tournament, which takes place from Thursday, April 21 through Sunday, April 24^th. Seeding for the tournament will be announced following the conclusion of the regular season next weekend.