CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas tennis program enters into the weekend with a tough challenge ahead as they are set to play a trio of schools in Tulsa, Okla. this weekend.
This weekend starts the dual portion of the spring schedule, and with that comes a variety of opponents to match it. Starting the dense slate is a doubleheader against the University of Wyoming and the University of Tulsa on Saturday before they faceoff against Louisiana Tech on Sunday.
UCA will have plenty of things to work towards as their spring season got cut short a year prior. During that spring season, the Bears were poised to make a run at the Southland Conference title after starting the season 10-5. Now the opportunity has restarted itself as they begin their journey at the Tulsa Invitational.
While this campaign is about correcting the abrupt end of the season a year ago, the spring slate still offers a variety of new challenges. The Bears start the dual formats with a relatively unknown opponent in Wyoming. Neither of these teams have ever faced each other in the dual format before. For the Cowgirls, this marks their first hint of competitive action as they have not played since the shutdown in the spring. Wyoming is led by their No. 1, Junior Maria Oreshkina. The Mountain West selected her to the all-conference team in the shortened season, where she went 8-4 in singles and 6-3 in doubles.
Unlike the Cowgirls, Tulsa is all too familiar to the Bears as they ventured to Tulsa back in 2019. In that former matchup, the Golden Hurricane claimed it 6-1. Only three of the UCA student-athletes were part of that squad that fell to Tulsa, so the tone for this weekend's matchup is entirely different. The Golden Hurricanes are led by fifth-year senior Martina Okalova. Okalova has had success for many years with Tulsa as she was selected as an all-conference player twice as well as being an ITA All-American.
As Friday ends, Saturday will force a well-known opponent on the Bears as they will face Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters have already faced UCA once this season as they participated in the Bear's Second Fall Invitational. At the invitational, UCA grabbed the head to head record as the Bears were 7-2 against Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters are a revamped squad as numerous underclassmen lead them. Five of their eight positions are taken by sophomores or younger.
UCA begins their time at the Tulsa Invitational Friday at 9 a.m. against Wyoming before taking on Tulsa at 1 p.m. The Bears will finish up the invite against Louisiana Tech Sunday at 10 a.m.
