HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Central Arkansas tennis team finally cooled down on Saturday night when they fell to the Sam Houston State Bearkats 7-0. The Bears (14-7, 6-2 SLC) were on the second night of a back-to-back and on fumes by the end of the match as it lasted over four hours.
Even with the loss, the Bears can clinch a spot in the SLC tournament today with a loss by the Lamar Cardinals or the Southeastern Louisiana Lions.
UCA 0, SHSU 7
Although the score heavily favored the Bearkats, Central Arkansas pushed Sam Houston in singles play as three of the six matches were decided in three sets. Down 2-0, senior Marli Van Heerden nearly got the Bears on the board with a 6-2 set-2 win to even the match but dropped the last one to give the Bearkats the 3-0 lead. The night finally ended after senior Rada Manataweewat took her opponent to three sets, but ultimately fell to conclude a tough match for the Bears.
Van Heerden and freshman Chunxi Xin were the only Bears to enjoy a win on the evening, as they started the night with a 6-2 doubles win. After the Bearkats took the next match 6-3, senior QiLi Ma and Manataweewat fell in a No. 3 duel 7-6 that awarded Sam Houston the early 1-0 lead.
The Bears were held scoreless for the first time all season.
Head Coach Casey Wharton credited the Bearkats for controlling the tempo of the match on an off night for his team.
"Sometimes the score doesn't add up in your favor. You could be doing everything that you want to do and it still won't be enough. Tonight was one of those nights," Wharton said. "It was tough that everyone had an off day on the same day. I'm glad it happened this part of the season and not the conference tournament.
We have time to regroup and prepare. We'll assess what we did well and practice on what we didn't do well."
UP NEXT
The Bears will carry their 5-0 home record into next weekend with two matchups against the Incarnate Word Cardinals and the red-hot Abilene Christian Wildcats. The Wildcats are 7-0 in conference play while the Cardinals are winless. The Cardinals will hit the UCA Tennis Courts first as they will face the Bears on April 12 at 11 a.m.
