CONWAY, Ark. – The Central Arkansas tennis team arrived in Auburn, Alabama last night for an intriguing doubleheader on Saturday afternoon with the Auburn Tigers (9 a.m.) and UAB Blazers (12 p.m.) at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Bears (1-1) will look to use last year's match with the Tigers as motivation as Central Arkansas narrowly fell 4-3 against the then ranked No. 25 squad in the nation.
 
MEET THE AUBURN TIGERS
 
The Auburn Tigers reside in Auburn, Alabama and will welcome the Bears for their first home match after an impressive showing at the Orlando Invitational last weekend that saw eight wins in 11 matches. The Tigers had five players listed in ITA's end-of-fall rankings last November, including two singles players and two doubles teams.
 
Senior Taylor Russo leads the Auburn attack as she placed No. 79 in singles after a 7-2 Fall mark and cracked Top 10 in doubles with freshman Selin Ovunc as the pair finished at No. 9 after a doubles title at the ITA Southern Regional. Fellow senior Georgie Axon and junior Madeline Meredith were listed at No. 59 in doubles rankings while sophomore Yu Chen ranked No. 123 in singles after a scorching 13-2 mark in the fall with two flight titles at the H-E-B and Rice Invitationals.
 
MEET THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM BLAZERS
 
The UAB Blazers reside in Birmingham, Alabama and will open up their spring schedule against the Bears after a disappointing 6-14 finish in 2019 that concluded with a 4-0 loss to North Texas in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament. The Blazers combined for a 59-51 mark in singles last spring and returned six of eight players for the 2020 season, including two seniors and four juniors.
 
Senior Hana Sisirak and junior Jana Hecking return as two of three to finish with 10+ wins in singles play as team leader Alexandra Shchipakina graduated after a 13-6 finish. The Bears will look to strike early in doubles play as the Blazers had a subpar performance last year with a 25-37 finish. Out of the 14 combinations used, only one pairing finished with more than five wins (Bears finished with four).
 
KEEP UP WITH THE BEARS
 
 The opening match with the Tigers will have a video stream (only if no rain) and live stats available here. The afternoon match with the Blazers will not have coverage, so follow @UCATennis for any updates.