CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas tennis team quickly got back to their winning ways as they dominated the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals 6-1 on Friday afternoon at the UCA Tennis Courts. The Bears (15-7, 7-2 SLC) were in complete control of the match as they took all three doubles matches and completed five sweeps in singles play. The win earned the Bears a spot in the SLC Tournament and kept their chances of winning conference alive.
 
UCA 6, UIW 1
 
Central Arkansas began singles play up 1-0, but the score immediately became 1-1 after a point was awarded to Incarnate Word due to them being shorthanded. With only five players needed to compete, Head Coach Casey Wharton took advantage and rested two players to stay healthy for the match with the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Sunday.
 
Senior Rada Manataweewat got her team the early 2-1 lead after winning 6-0, 6-2. Freshman Chunxi Xin easily handled her business at the No. 1 position as she won 6-2, 6-1 to make it 3-1. She improved to 7-3 at the No. 1 spot for Central Arkansas. Senior Marli Van Heerden picked up career win No. 61 when she secured the win for the Bears after winning 6-1, 6-3. She improved to a team-best 15-6 on the season and 7-2 in SLC play. Freshman Fuka Nonoyama improved her record to 8-2 at the No. 2 position after taking her match 6-4, 6-4 to make it 5-1 and sophomore Yada Vasupongchai finished the day for the Bears with a 6-2, 6-3 win. Vasupongchai improved to 14-4 on the year and 7-2 in SLC play.
 
After picking up the first doubles match by default, senior QiLi Ma and Manataweewat solidified the 1-0 lead for the Bears after winning their match 6-1. Van Heerden and Xin closed doubles play out with a 6-4 win to improve their SLC record to 7-2.
 
Wharton was content with the results even though he said his team started off slow in both doubles and singles play.
 
"We went into today with a plan of what we wanted to be doing and I thought we were slow at the start," Wharton said. "By the finish of doubles, we got back to what we wanted to be doing and so that was great. For singles, I thought the energy could've been better from the beginning, but it just got better and better as the match went on.
 
The results played out in our favor and that's great, but how we get those results is more important to me. I thought we knew who we were, what we were doing and did our best to do it every time. I was proud of that."
 
UP NEXT
 
The Bears will enjoy a day of rest before returning to the UCA Tennis Courts for a matchup with the top-ranked Wildcats at 11 a.m. on Sunday. Ma, Van Heerden and Manataweewat will all be recognized and celebrated as seniors playing their last home match in a Bears uniform. Wharton likes the challenge that the unbeaten Wildcats bring to the table on Senior Day.
 
"I think we treat every match the same, but it is significant that we have some players that have been here all four years," Wharton said. "We're playing a good team at home, so I think it's going to be exciting and meaningful. I like that we're going to have to go out and fight for it and I think they do too. They're not looking for anything to be easy."
 
Due to potential rain hitting Conway early Sunday morning, check back with www.ucasports.com or follow UCA Tennis on Twitter for a time change for the match.