NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Central Arkansas tennis team continued conference play in New Orleans on Friday afternoon and improved to 2-0 in the Southland Conference after defeating the Privateers 4-3. The initial point won from doubles play proved to be the deciding factor for the Bears as singles play saw a 3-3 tie. The No. 4-6 players in singles play saved Central Arkansas (8-5, 2-0 SLC) as the front three dropped their matches.
UCA 4, NEW ORLEANS 3
Senior Rada Manataweewat continued her strong season play as she swept her opponent 6-0, 6-2 to give Central Arkansas the early 2-0 advantage. Sophomore Yada Vasupongchai almost copied Manataweewat as she also swept her opponent 6-0, 6-3 to make it 3-0. After New Orleans answered with two straight match wins of its own, senior Marli Van Heerden earned a hard-fought sweep as she won 7-5, 6-4. Ishimura found herself in a comeback battle as she responded to losing set one 1-6 with a 7-5 set two victory. The deciding set did not go Ishimura's way as she fell 5-7 and the Privateers solidified the singles split. Van Heerden and Manataweewat each picked up win no. 9 on the year while Vasupongchai improved to 8-2.
Freshman Fuka Nonoyama and Manataweewat got their team on the right track with a 6-0 doubles sweep that began the day. After the Privateers took a 6-3 win at No. 1, Ishimura and Vasupongchai improved to 6-4 on the year with a crucial 7-5 win to grant Central Arkansas the doubles point.
Head coach Casey Wharton praised his team for battling through their first outdoor match.
"Today was one of the hardest matches we've played all year," Wharton said. "It was against a good conference team on the road, and it was outdoors with heat and wind that we have not seen so far this year.
I was proud of Mei for extending her match to a third set because it gave Marli time to finish her match and clinch the win for the team.
We will rest tomorrow and battle again on Sunday."
UP NEXT
The Bears will take their early undefeated conference record west of New Orleans as they will face the Colonels of Nicholls University in Thibodaux, Louisiana on March 10 at 11 a.m.
