CONWAY, Ark - The University of Central Arkansas tennis program got their first victory of the conference season as they defeated Lamar 6-1.

It was a successful afternoon for the Bears as they took eight of the nine matches from the Cardinals in the 6-1 route. 

Doubles:
The Bears dominantly began the morning as they didn't allow the Cardinals to get on the board in the three-match sweep. The No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Maja Gledic and Jaeun Lee made an impressive showcase as they blanked their competition. Their match was the shortest of the dual as they bested Lamar's No. 3 team 6-0. 

The competition played a bit closer in the next two matches as both of the doubles teams for UCA won it 6-4. From the No. 2 side of things, the pairing of junior Yada Vasupongchai and sophomore Mei Ishimura fell behind in the early goings 2-1 but rallied quickly to claim the match. The No. 1 pairing of sophomore Chunxi Xin and Fuka Nonoyama followed suit but remained ahead for the match's duration as they eventually claimed it 6-4.

Singles:
After securing the doubles point dominantly, the Bears were posed with momentum heading into singles play. UCA began securing wins in bunches with only three courts available before turning it over to No. 4-6. However, before that could happen, the Bears raked up the wins in quick fashion. Nonoyama started it off with a short two-set match in which she won 6-3, 6-2. Following her were Xin and Vasupongchai. Xin solidified her success at the No. 1 position with a 6-4, 6-3 victory, and Vasupongchai finished third with a 7-5, 6-0 win. 

Gledic continued her successful afternoon with a nearly blank slate in the second pack of matches as she won it 6-0, 6-1. The last UCA player to finish out today with a victory was freshmen Sumomo Hamanaga, who battled Lamar's Emmeline Polevoi and bested her 6-2, 6-4. 

Up next, the Bears head to Thibodaux, La. to face off against Nicholls with a time that has yet to be decided. 

Quote from coach Casey Wharton:
"It was great to start conference and great to start at home, Lamar is a great team and they are always tough even when we play them at home. We wanted to do three things well today, we wanted to be simple, control the tempo and we wanted to stay positive regardless of results. I was very proud of how we played and the energy that we played with and I'm excited to take a few days and get ready to go on the road and hopefully use this momentum next weekend."