Natchitoches, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas women's tennis team opened up a regular season-ending three-match road trip on Friday, heading to Natchitoches, Louisiana to take on Northwestern State. The Sugar Bears extended their winning streak to five matches with a 5-2 win.
Central Arkansas (18-5, 7-2 SLC) jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a pair of wins in the doubles portion.
Pornpawee Pramethong and
Hee-Jin Oh gave UCA the lead in the competition, pushing their record to 4-4 on the season with a 6-2 win over Polina Ivanova and Polina Mutel, while
QiLi Ma and
Rada Manataweewat matched that score against Iryna Vardanian and Judit Castillo in the no. 2 match to move to 17-2 on the year.
In singles play, Pramethong again got things started, pushing the UCA lead to 2-0, and her season tally to 9-12, with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Vardanian, before
Marli Van Heerden made it 3-0 UCA by taking down Vladislava Litvinova 6-0, 6-2 and improving to 16-4 on the season.
Amiru Shimoguchi would clinch the match for the Sugar Bears in the no. 4 match, improving to 15-8 on the year with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Castillo. Mutel would get the Lady Demons (13-8, 6-5 SLC) on the board in the no. 3 match, after Ma was forced to retire in the second set despite leading 7-5, 0-3 and Kateryna Avram outlasted Manataweewat 6-3, 2-6, 10-3 in the no. 6 match. Oh would end the match on the right foot for the Sugar Bears, improving her record to 9-10 with a 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 defeat of Ivanova in the no. 2 match.
"Today was a good day," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton. "Northwestern State has always been one of the best teams in the conference, and this year is no different. I knew if we were going to have a chance we would need to play our best, especially since we were on the road. And I felt that, for most of the match, we were able to do it. All three doubles and all six singles were able to give themselves a chance in every point of every game. And that's what we want, to give ourselves as many chances as we can, because the more chances we have, the more that may go our way. Overall, it was just a good day."
Central Arkansas returns to action tomorrow at 11:00 AM in Nacogdoches, Texas, facing off with the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks.
