Beaumont, Texas – The Central Arkansas women's tennis team faced perhaps their toughest test of the season to date on Saturday, facing off with one of the few teams to beat them this season on that team's home court in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament. The Sugar Bears proved to be up to the task however, taking down the second-seeded Lamar Cardinals 4-2 to advance to the Conference Tournament Championship Match for the first time.
"Today was a grind from the very beginning," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton after the match. "We saw in the weather report that it was going to be very windy, and that it could be rainy, so mentally, we just had to accept that we couldn't be sure of what the day would hold, which is never easy."
"I would like to compliment Lamar, first off," said Wharton. "We've never beaten them since I've been at UCA, they've just been very, very good the entire time that I've been here. They're well-coached and their team plays hard. And I'd like to compliment the crowd. They had a great turnout, but they were kind. The crowd cheered for their players, and not against ours, and they were very gracious."
As they have seemingly all season long, the Sugar Bears (21-6) used strong doubles play to earn the first point of the match.
Marli Van Heerden and
Amiru Shimoguchi got things started for Central Arkansas, picking up a 6-2 win over Talisa Mrrchiers and Stephanie Marchena in the number three match, before Katya Lapayeva and Anna Spengler evened things up with a 6-4 win over
Pornpawee Pramethong and
Hee-Jin Oh at number one. With the point on the line, the Sugar Bears turned to All-Southland Conference First-Teamers
QiLi Ma and
Rada Manataweewat, who edged out Hanna Elfving and Jasmin Buchta 7-6 (7-5) to secure the point for Central Arkansas.
"We do best when we get ahead, so we really need the doubles point," said Wharton. "Usually when we lose the doubles point, it's hard for us to win, so we try very hard to get that point. Lamar is a really good doubles team. We won at three, we lost at one, so it came down to number two, where Rada and QiLi have been playing really well all year. But that doesn't mean that that's a match that we can just check off as a win, and they were behind the entire match. They fought off game points to somehow get ahead an win which, with the crowd they had today, was huge for us."
Central Arkansas would open singles play by pushing the lead to 3-0 and putting the pressure on the Cardinals (17-7), as Pramethong swept SLC Player of the Year Lapayeva 6-4, 6-3 in the number one match and Ma took down Buchta 6-4, 6-2 in the number three match. Lamar would rebound by cutting the lead to 3-2, thanks to a 6-3, 6-3 win from Elfving over Manataweewat at number six and a 6-4, 6-4 victory from Spengler over Oh at number two, but Van Heerden would clinch the match for Central Arkansas for the second day in a row. The All-SLC Second Team honoree took the first set of the number five match 6-3, before Merchiers won the second 6-1 to force a decisive third set. Van Heerden seemed unfazed by the added pressure, securing the Sugar Bears' spot in the championship match by taking down Merchiers 6-2 in the final set.
"Going into singles we still weren't relaxed because Lamar is just good," said Wharton. "They're good at the top, and they're good at the bottom; they've already beaten us at home this year. I'm most proud of Gammy, our number one player. Lamar's number one is the best in the conference, it's undisputed, so for our freshman to go out and be able to win on the road on a stage like this is just a testament to how good I believe she can be. QiLi has been fighting through some stuff, but I'm really proud of her for
finding a way to win when she isn't playing her best tennis.
"Marli stepped up again," continued Wharton. "She's our anchor. Everything she does is basic, but it's just so intentional that you're going to have to do something special to beat her. Lamar's number five is a player that I've always liked; she's a fighter and she's a great player. So it was a really cool matchup for us, because that's what Marli is for us. So for it to come the very end is both very exciting, but also very scary."
Central Arkansas, who will be seeking its first-ever Conference Tournament Title, will face off with defending SLC Champion, and top-seeded, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Sugar Bears and Islanders last met on just nine days ago, with the Islanders winning 4-2. The match is set to begin at 2:00 PM, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships, which will take place March 18-29 at the Don Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
"At this point, I'm not thinking about tomorrow," said Wharton. "I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and the fact that we were able to beat Lamar in Beaumont, because they're very good. We just want to enjoy that for a moment. I'm really proud of our girls, that they were able to keep their composure and make good decisions in front of such big crowds.
