Lake Charles, Louisiana – The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears and McNeese State Cowgirls squared off on Monday, a day later than initially planned due to weather in the area on Sunday. The delay didn't seem to affect the Sugar Bears though, as they rolled to a 6-1 win at the Nancy Hank Tennis Center. The win, which was Central Arkansas' 15
th of the season, set a new program for wins in a season, eclipsing the 14-win mark set last season.
Amiru Shimoguchi and
Marli Van Heerden gave Central Arkansas (15-5, 4-2 SLC) an early edge for the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Giovanna Fioretti and Stella Carra in the no. 3 match to move to 4-1 on the season, before Hannah Brett and Sarah Jurakova evened things up by taking down
Pornpawee Pramethong and
Hee-Jin Oh 6-4 in the no. 1 match.
QiLi Ma and
Rada Manataweewat locked up the point in the no. 2 match, improving to 14-2 on the season and 4-1 in Southlant play with a 6-4 win over Charoline Erlandsson and Vivien Borbely.
Van Heerden pushed the UCA lead to 2-0 in the no. 5 singles match, taking down Borbely 6-3, 6-2 to push her record to 13-4 on the year and 4-1 against SLC opponents, while Pramethong improved to 7-11 on the year with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Fioretti in the no. 1 match. Ma then clinched the win in the no. 3 match, scoring a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jurakova to push her record to 15-2 on the season and 4-2 in conference play.
Shimoguchi continued the Sugar Bears' dominant play in the no. 4 match, defeating Erlandsson 7-6 (4), 6-3 to make her record 12-8 with a 4-2 mark in league play, before Oh pushed the UCA lead to 6-0 with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Brett in the no. 2 match. The win moved her to 6-10 on the year and 2-4 against SLC opponents. In the final match of the day, Phonexay Chitdara got the Cowgirls on the board, taking down Manataweewat 4-6, 7-5, 10-4.
The Sugar Bears return home this weekend to play their final two home match of the season. On Saturday, Central Arkansas will host New Orleans at 11:00 AM, before closing out the home schedule against Southeastern Louisiana at 11:00 AM on Sunday.
