Nashville, Tennessee – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears hit the road to begin the 2017 season on Friday afternoon, heading to Nashville, Tennessee to battle the Belmont Bruins at the Centennial Sportsplex. The match would prove to be a thriller, with the Sugar Bears edging out the Bruins 4-3.

"Everyone was a little nervous because it was the first match of the year," said sophomore QiLi Ma after the match. "But we have two new players, and we're very excited about the season."

That enthusiasm shone through in doubles play, where Ma and junior Rada Manataweewat earned a 6-2 win over Belmont's (0-1) Abbie Mather and Maddie Gilley in the no. 3 spot, while Pornpawee Pramethong and Amiru Shimoguchi took down Lindsey Whitehead and Kendall Warren 6-1 in the no. 1 spot to secure the doubles point for the Sugar Bears (1-0). In the no.2 match, Marli Van Heerden and Hee-Jin Oh fell to Laura Erckhoudt and Laura Kent 4-6.

"Belmont was a very good team, especially in doubles play," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton. Even though we won the point, it could have easily gone the other way.

In singles play, Belmont got wins from Kent over Pramethong at the no. 1 spot, Mather over Van Heerden at the no. 5 spot and Suzanna Stapler over Manataweewat in the no. 6 match, but the Sugar Bears saw Shimoguchi defeat Whitehead 6-2, 6-3 in the no. 2 match and Oh earn a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Erckhoudt to keep the match even. With the match on the line and both teams watching anxiously, Ma overcame a loss in the second set of her match with Warren to take the third set 6-3 and lock up the victory.

"I feel like, since it's the beginning of the year, we have a lot of things to practice in order to get ready for conference play," said Wharton. "But with time and hard work, I have no doubt that we'll get where we need to be."

The UCA skipper continued, saying, "Amiru played awesomely today, getting the win in straight sets, and Hee-jin, who is new to our team, also won in straight sets at the number three spot, which is huge for us. But I was especially proud of QiLi, who stepped up in a big way in the third set of her match to clinch the win for us."

Central Arkansas returns to the court on Sunday afternoon, battling UNC-Asheville at 3:00 PM.