Conway, Ark. – The Central Arkansas tennis team will look to stay unbeaten at home when they welcome the Southeastern Louisiana Lions and McNeese Cowgirls to the UCA Tennis Courts this weekend. After the first three home matches were played in Little Rock due to bad weather, the Bears (11-6, 3-1 SLC) will look to create a new winning streak on their outdoor courts. Central Arkansas' weekend begins with the Lions tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. and concludes with the Cowgirls on Sunday, March 31 at 11 a.m.
MEET THE LIONS
The Lions (5-8, 2-3 SLC) will arrive in Conway after dropping their last match to the Corpus Christi Islanders 5-2 on the road last weekend. The reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week freshman Putri Insani will look to continue her strong play against the Bears. Insani has won four of her five last singles matches at the No. 1 spot and boasts an impressive 4-1 record in SLC play. Central Arkansas will also see her on the doubles side as she and sophomore Ximena Yanez are 6-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 in SLC play.
MEET THE COWGIRLS
The Cowgirls (7-6, 2-2 SLC) did exactly what the Bears will hope to do when they beat the Lions 6-1 in their last match. Central Arkansas will have their work cut out for them at three different positions as junior Marija Mastilovic, freshman Dalia Ahmed and senior Charoline Erlandsson are all playing well coming into the weekend. Eriandsson has been on absolute fire at the No. 2 spot as she will carry a 12-game win streak into Sunday's match. Mastilovic will look for win No. 10 at the No. 3 spot and Ahmed will be aiming for her seventh straight win.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH CASEY WHARTON
"It's nice to be at home and playing on our courts," Wharton said. "I'm looking for us to play fundamental tennis like the way we practice. The goal is not to be amazing every week but to be fundamentally sound. That's my hope for this weekend."
"The Southland overall is very good; the bottom teams aren't separated from the top by much. McNeese and Southeastern both have good wins on the year already and I know that even playing at home, it's going to be very tough matches. Both teams are very good at doubles so it's going to be a huge focus for us."
"If we've practiced well, slept well and done all of our homework, I think it'll be reasonable to go out and play well this weekend."
