Springfield, Mo. – The Central Arkansas tennis team finished 2-0 on a Friday for the second straight week today as they defeated the Omaha Mavericks (6-2) and host Missouri State Bears (2-5) at the Cooper Tennis Complex. Once 1-4, the red-hot Bears (6-5) will march into conference play next weekend with some swagger as winners of their last four matches and five of their last six – all on the road.
UCA 4, OMAHA 0
SINGLES – The Bears were able to add four losses to what was an impressive 28-14 mark in singles play for the Mavericks as freshmen newcomers
Paulina Engback and
Jaeun Lee converted sweeps in route to the 4-0 win. Sophomore
Fuka Nonoyama continued her impressive start at the No. 2 as she swept junior Madison Gallegos 6-0, 6-2 to deliver Omaha their second loss of the season.
DOUBLES – The electric sophomore pairing of
Chunxi Xin and Nonoyama got Central Arkansas going with a 6-3 win at the No. 1 for their sixth straight victory together. After the Mavericks took the No. 2 court 6-2, the newly-meshed duo of junior
Yada Vasupongchai and Lee secured the doubles point with the 6-3 victory on the last court.
UCA 5, MISSOURI STATE 2
SINGLES – In a match that would last over four hours, Central Arkansas was able to pull away after finding themselves even at 2-2 with the Bears from Missouri State. After junior Ellie Burger improved to 3-0 at the No. 3 with a win over Vasupongchai to tie it at 2-all, Nonoyama and Xin grabbed gritty 3-set wins at the No. 2 and 1 to clinch the Bears' second win of the day. Nonoyama improved to 7-1 at the No. 2 and grabbed her fourth straight win while Xin jumped to 5-3 at the top spot with her third straight victory. After the match was secured, Lee was able to grab her fourth win at the No. 6 as she won 7-6 (5-0), 5-7, 10-2 to improve to 5-6 on the season and finalize the score at 5-2.
DOUBLES – Xin and Nonoyama replicated their afternoon routine to start the match as they took court No. 1 6-4 to push their winning streak to seven and improve to 8-2. Vasupongchai rejoined her usual teammate freshman
Maja Gledic at the No. 2 and were able to secure the doubles point for Central Arkansas with a 6-4 win.
UP NEXT
The Bears will look to replicate their recent success next weekend as they will open Southland Conference play with the Lamar Cardinals (6-2) on February 28 and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders (10-2) on March 1.
