Jonesboro, Arkansas – The Central Arkansas women's tennis team returned to action on Sunday, playing a pair of matches in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Sugar Bears opened the day with a  4-1 loss to defending WAC champion UMKC, before sweeping Arkansas State 4-0.

The afternoon saw the Sugar Bears (2-2) earn their fourth consecutive win over Arkansas State (0-6), as Central Arkansas took two doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat gave UCA an early lead for the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Kirsty Venter and Sabina Jeresic in the number three match before Chunan Xiang and Amiru Shimoguchi took out Anita Detlava and Berta Masdevall Masip 6-3 in the number one match to give the Sugar Bears a 1-0 lead. The number two match between Marli Van Heerden and Hee-Jin Oh and ASU's Shelby King and Shannon O'Brien went unfinished.

UCA wrapped up the match with three straight-set wins in singles play. Oh extended the UCA lead with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Masdevall in the number four match, and Ma added a 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Jeresic in the number three match, before Xiang wrapped up the match with a  6-3, 6-3 defeat of Detlava in the number two tilt. When the match was called, Van Heerden held a 6-1, 6-5 lead over Venter in the number six match, Shimoguchi led O'Brien 7-6, 2-2 in the number five match, and Pornpawee Pramethong was tied 5-7, 6-3 in her number one match against King.

The day's first match saw a hotly contested doubles contest, as UMKC's Melinda Johnson and Yana Grechinka put the 'Roos in front with a 6-4 win over Pramethong and Van Heerden in the number one match. Ma and Manataweewat would even things up with a 6-4 win over Ioanna Lathouri and Katie Fries in the number three competition, before Xiang and Shimoguchi put the Sugar Bears in front with a 6-3 defeat of Aliona Ladutska and Grace Ball in the number two match.

Van Heerden netted the first point of the singles portion, taking out Ball 6-1, 6-2, but the 'Roos would reel off four straight wins to secure the match. Oh fell to Grechinka 3-6, 3-6 in the number four match, Pramethong fell 6-1, 1-6, 3-6 to Ladutska in the number one match, and Xiang suffered a 3-6, 2-6 defeat at the hands of Fries in the number two match, before Ma was edged out by Johnson 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 in the number three tilt to end the match. The number five match between Shimoguchi and Thanushree Vale went
unfinished, with each player having taken a set.

"This weekend was difficult to plan around because of the weather," said UCA head coach Casey Wharton. "We had to move matches to Sunday and we weren't able to hit on Saturday, but one of the things I love most about this team is how much they are flexible, and patient, and will roll with anything to make the best of a situation without complaining or letting it become an excuse."

Wharton continued, saying of the Sugar Bears' performance on Sunday, "We played hard against both teams, but UMKC had a little more energy than we did and was able to turn the match in their favor even though we won the doubles. We took 30 minutes to eat our lunch, and then we played Arkansas State, where we played much better, especially on the big points. We were able to win 4-0, but it was a much closer match than the scores would show. I'm proud of our fight and I look forward to coming back and building on the positives from this weekend."

Central Arkansas returns to action on February 11^th, playing a pair of matches at the UCA Tennis Courts. The Sugar Bears will take on Austin Peay at 9:00 AM, before battling Oral Roberts at 2:00 PM.