LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Central Arkansas tennis team began Southland Conference play on the right foot as they defeated the Lamar Cardinals 5-2 at Burns Park on Friday afternoon. Although the score favored Central Arkansas, the Cardinals battled the Bears as three of the six singles matches went to three sets.
 
UCA 5, LU 2
 
Senior Marli Van Heerden gave the Bears an early 1-0 advantage after defeating Natalia Garcia 6-0,6-2 to improve to 8-4 on the year. After a Cardinals match win tied the score at 1-1, sophomore Yada Vasupongchai swept her opponent 6-3, 6-2 to regain the lead. Vasupongchai's win continued her early season singles success, pushing her record to 7-2. Freshman Fuka Nonoyama found herself in a duel against Bianca Vitale, but came out with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win to pick up her sixth victory of the year. Senior Rada Manataweewat joined Heerden in the eight-win club after she outlasted a three-set battle to secure the victory for the Bears.
 
On the doubles side, week six SLC player of the week Chunxi Xin joined Van Heerden as they blanked their Lamar opponents 6-0. Nonoyama and Manataweewat followed in their teammates' footsteps and took their match 6-2 to solidify the doubles point for the Bears.
 
Head Coach Casey Wharton was relieved to escape Burns Park with a win in a day where things could have gone either way.
 
"Lamar has always been a team that plays with a lot of aggression and confidence and they were competing on every court," Wharton said. "I was proud of how hard we fought. It was not our best tennis, but it was some of our best fighting and determination."
 
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The Bears will enjoy one day of rest before returning to the courts on March 3 as they will continue conference play against Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in Waco, Texas. The match is set to begin at 12 p.m.