Conway- The Central Arkansas tennis team will look to extend the most successful season in school history on Friday, when the Southland Conference Tournament kicks off in Beaumont, Texas. The third-seeded Sugar Bears will take to the court at 10:00 AM, facing off with sixth-seeded Northwestern State.

"It's been a very good season, which is, in some ways, surprising, because we don't have a full roster," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton. "We lost a player in December, and then one of our top players has been recovering from surgery all season. I knew that we were talented, I knew we had the potential to be good, but it was really exciting to see that, when we needed to perform, we actually could."

Central Arkansas (19-6, 8-3 SLC), who will be making their fifth-straight appearance in the SLC Tournament, earned the third seed in this year's tournament thanks to a program-best eight wins in Southland Conference play. The Sugar Bears feature three players who earned All-Southland Conference singles honors in junior Amiru Shimoguchi (Second Team), sophomore  Marli Van Heerden (Second Team) and sophomore QiLi Ma (Honorable Mention), as well as an All-Conference doubles team in Ma and junior Rada Manataweewat (First Team).

Ma and Manataweewat paced the Southland Conference in doubles wins, setting a program record with a 19-2 record while going 10-1 against SLC opponents. In UCA's 5-2 win over the Lady Demons on April 14^th, they scored a 6-2 win at the number two doubles slot.

"QiLi is a very complete player, there's just no style that can stop her if she's playing well," said Wharton. "If you play long points, okay. If you come forward, she can do that. If you play slices, she's got that too. And that's really great to watch."

Ma, Shimoguchi, and Van Heerden, anchored the middle of the Sugar Bears' lineup earning conference honors at numbers three, four, and five, respectively. Ma set a program record for singles wins by going 19-3 on the season and 8-3 in league play. Her eight wins at the number three led the Southland Confernce. Against the Lady Demons, she was leading 7-5, 0-3 but retired due to illness once Central Arkansas clinched the match.

"The depth of our lineup is so great," said Wharton of his team. "Marli, QiLi, and Amiru all have strengths that could put them at number one for us. I cannot imagine that I will coach a deeper team than the one I have this year. Every single person comes back next year, and they're all so focused and committed to being here."

Shimoguchi, who ranks fourth in program history in wins after just two years at Central Arkansas, turned in a 16-9 mark on the season, while tying for the league-lead in wins at number four with an 8-3 record. She picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win against Northwestern State earlier this year. Van Heerden,

Northwestern State (13-8, 6-5 SLC) is led by All-SLC Honorable Mention doubles team Judit Castillo and Iryna Vardanian, who were 5-2 when paired together this season. The pair also lead the Lady Demons in singles play, with Vardanian tallying a 12-9 record on the year and a 9-3 mark at the number two position, while Castillo was 12-7 on the year, splitting her time almost evenly between number five (6-2) and number six(6-1).

The winner of tomorrow's match will move on to a semifinal matchup against either second-seeded Lamar or seventh-seeded Sam Houston State at 2:00 PM on Saturday. The championship match I set to begin at 2:00 PM on Sunday.