Beaumont, Texas – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears opened play in the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday morning, taking on the sixth-seeded Northwestern State Lady Demons at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Complex. The third-seeded Sugar Bears picked up their second-ever postseason win on the day, taking down the Lady Demons 4-2.
Central Arkansas (20-6) got things started early in the doubles competition, as
Marli Van Heerden and
Amiru Shimoguchi dispatched Kateryna Avram and Vladislava Litvinova 6-1 in the number three match to push their record to 7-2 on the season.
Rada Manataweewat and
QiLi Ma then secured the doubles point for the Sugar Bears in the number two match, but not without a struggle. The All-SLC first-teamers found themselves trailing Iryna Vardanian and Judit Castillo 3-4, but rallied to win four of the next five games to pick up the 7-5 win and push their season record to 20-2 on the year. The number one match between
Pornpawee Pramethong and
Hee-Jin Oh and Polina Ivanova and Polina Mutel went unfinished with the teams tied at 6-6.
Ivanova would get Northwestern State (13-9) on the board in singles play, taking out Oh 6-1, 6-4 in the number two match, but Shimoguchi would answer in the number four slot, taking down Castillo 6-1, 6-3 to move to 17-9on the season. Mutel would defeat Ma 6-3, 6-0 in the number three match to even the overall score at 2-2, but that would be all the Sugar Bears would allow. Pramethong moved to 11-12 on the year with 7-6, 6-2 defeat of Vardanian at the number one slot, before Van Heerden clinched the match by taking the number five slot 6-0, 7-5 against Litvinova. The win saw Van Heerden improve to 18-5.
"It was long and it was hard, but we knew that it would be," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton of the match. "Northwestern State has a legacy of being a very solid program, and I wasn't surprised that they came out with intensity, focus, and fight, from the very first ball in doubles. I knew that we had talent, and the pieces to compete, but so does everybody in this tournament. So our plan was to play as hard as we can today, because it was so windy, and because everybody is a bit nervous, so we had to focus on making good decisions. We needed to win the doubles, and we were able to. I love that Marli and Amiru were able step up and get the win at number three, and it came down the wire at number one and number two doubles, so it was good that we were able to get another one there. I was very proud of Pornpawee because I know that Vardanian is a very good player, so for her to get the win there was big. I'm so proud of Amiru, who has been battling some injuries, and for her to fight through that and be our first point was great to see."
Wharton continued, saying, "If I had a game ball to give out, I think it would have to go to Marli. She's battled through all kinds of hardships and obstacles this year, but she's used them as opportunities to get better and to grow. So I'm so proud of the fact that she was able to clinch it for us and move us on to the next round."
With the win, Central Arkansas moves on to the semifinals of the SLC Tournament, where they will square off against second-seeded Lamar, who defeated No. 7 Sam Houston State 4-0 earlier today. The Sugar Bears and Cardinals will take to the court at 2:00 PM, with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship match, which is also set for a 2:00 PM start.
