Nashville: As the University of Central Arkansas tennis program shed off their injuries, the success came as they split their OVC doubleheader.
UCA 7 Belmont 0
Singles:
Sophomore Chunxi Xin made her spring dual debate after being held out initially due to injuries. Now she is back and competing at a high level as she bested Belmonts No. 1, Somer Henry. Xin claimed the match in two sets as she defeated her opponent 7-5, 7-6.
In four of the next five matches, the Bears won with ease as they continued to claim victories in just two sets. No. 2 and No. 3 sophomore Fuka Nonoyama and junior Yada Vasupongchai each finished up in the singles matches' early goings. Nonoyama defeated her competition 6-3, 6-0, and Vasupongchai followed with a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
No. 4 freshman Maja Gledic and No. 6 freshman Jaeun Lee also got in the quick victories to claim the match for UCA. Gledic took it 6-3, 6-2, while Lee came out with the most dominant victory 6-1, 6-0. Lastly, in the No. 5 spot, freshman Sumomo Hamanaga finished the singles route with a three-set thriller. Hamanaga fell behind in the initial set 6-2 but rallied quickly to claim the second 6-1 before finally finishing it in the third 10-7.
Doubles:
The doubles side of things was much of the same as the Bears grabbed all three matches. This is the first time this season that UCA has claimed the doubles point.
Nonoyama and Xin started it out against the Bruins No. 1 and 2. The Belmont duo proved no match for the classic pairing as UCA won it 6-1. Following them were the doubles teams of sophomore Mei Ishimura/Vasupongchai and then Gledic/Hamanaga. Neither of these teams gave anything to the Bruins in the shutout. Ishimura/Vasupongchai claimed it 6-3, and Gledic/Hamanaga won 6-1.
APU 4 UCA 3
Singles:
The Bears continued their success on the singles court as they split the singles points. No. 6 Lee was the first player to finish as she continued her dominance on the courts. Lee won her match in two sets as she defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-2.
The other two matches for the Bears were much closer as they both won it in the third set. No. 2 Nonyama claimed her match by winning the first and third set 6-1, 6-4, but losing the second set 6-4. No. 3 Vasupongchai finished off the scoring for the Bears. She lost the first set 6-1 but came back and won the next two 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles:
UCA dropped two of the three doubles matches as they lost the dual defining doubles point. The lone victory came from the duo of Ishimura/Vasupongchai as they won 6-4.
The Bears travel to Birmingham, Ala., next week as they are set to take on Samford Saturday at noon.
Quote from coach Casey Wharton:
"Today we played two good matches, one of them went our way, and the other did not. I was really encouraged by how we competed. It took us some time to find the timing, but it got better throughout the day. We got some great results, overall we played really well."
