AUBURN, Ala. – On the final day of opening weekend for the University of Central Arkansas tennis squad, the Bears pushed No. 25 Auburn to the brink but ultimately came up just short, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Tigers Sunday morning.

AUBURN 4, UCA 3

QiLi Ma and Rada Manataweewat continued their doubles dominance from yesterday and posted an early 6-2 win over Auburn's Yu Chen and Alannah Griffin. However, the Bears could not secure the doubles point as the Tigers' Sophia Graver and Taylor Russo (the No. 14 ranked doubles pair) upended the Central Arkansas tandem of Marli Van Heerden and Fuka Nonoyama. Mei Ishimura and Yada Vasupongchai also struggled as they dropped their first match of the weekend to give Auburn the early 1-0 advantage.

The Bears found their footing during singles play. UCA's Ishimura earned a 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5) tiebreak-victory over Graver to get Central Arkansas on the board early. Van Heerden picked up 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) straight-set win over Russo and Vasupongchai came back from an early deficit to take down Griffin in a thrilling 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) win. Unfortunately for the Bears, they could not earn that much needed final point as Nonoyama, Ma and Manataweewat were unable to fend off some of the SEC's elite to fall 4-3 and wrap up the weekend with a 2-1 record.

UP NEXT

After a week of rest, Central Arkansas will hit the courts again Feb. 2 as they travel to Tulsa, Okla. for a pair of matches with Oral Roberts and Tulsa. Be sure to check out UCASports.com for all updated stats and schedule information.