CONWAY, Ark. - The tennis season seems to be ramping up as the UCA squad sets its sights for a trio of big-time matches in Little Rock.
It will be an array of midwest prowess as the Bears host Austin Peay, Kansas City, and the University of Arkansas at Burns Park on Saturday and Sunday.
After a tough match with Memphis, UCA is ready to take the step to learn from their mistakes as they test their strengths. Austin Peay and the Bears open up the first serve at 9 a.m. Saturday before the Razorbacks step on the court at 1 p.m. The Roos then help finish the weekend with an afternoon showcase starting at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. These will all be tough tests for UCA, but it is nothing different than what they have seen before. All three of these teams took the time to compete at the UCA Fall Invites, and now it is time to keep score of who is the best.
In the first bout of the weekend, the Bears will take on the Governors. Austin Peay made its appearance in the second Fall Invite and kept pace with UCA throughout. The Bears finished the weekend 1-2 in singles play, and 2-0 in doubles play against the Governors. Anything can happen with a limited track record, but one player to watch is sophomore
Jaeun Lee. She was the lone player to win in singles and followed that with a doubles win alongside partner
Sumomo Hamanaga. This will also be the first match for Austin Peay, so who knows what is in store.
In probably the highlighted match of the weekend, UCA will take on the home state favorite, Razorbacks. Arkansas will travel from Fayetteville down to their second home in Little Rock to take on the Bears. This is definitely one to watch, as it is the first time since 2011 that these two teams will do battle in a dual format. While this is the first match in a while, these two teams have had plenty of time lining up on different sides of the net. At the UCA First Invite, UCA kept their strides with this daunting Power Five foe as they went 2-3 in singles play and 0-2 in doubles play. The main player to keep an eye on here is sophomore
Maja Gledic. In the fifth flight, Gledic took down Arkansas' Presley Southerland in only two sets with a score of 7/6 6/3.
After taking on the Razorbacks, the Bears will turn their attention to KC. The limited opportunities once again played a role in this, but this time UCA came out on top as they hosted a 2-1 singles record and 1-0 doubles record. Junior
Fuka Nonoyama is a player to watch in this one as she came through with a singles and doubles win against the Roos. History in these two teams matches side with the Roos as they are 3-1 against the Bears, but recency bias gives UCA the edge as they won in 2019, 6-1.
Overall this will be a tough weekend for UCA, but the potential for significant momentum is there. Most of these matchups are a coin toss as this must-see event will start tomorrow at 9 a.m.
