CONWAY, Ark. - The University of Central Arkansas tennis program continues to fight vigorously against its recent string of ferocious competitors as the best of the East meets the Bears on the court. Today was no different for UCA as they did battle with the Nationally ranked (No. 68) Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. In doing such, they followed the trend of their recent string of matches, as they fell short of capturing that upset victory in a 4-3 defeat.
As the final tally shows, this was no David vs. Goliah matchup, as both squads are successful enough to already be destined for the ASUN Tournament. While the Bears have little wiggle room as they are stuck at the No. 5 or No. 6 seed, the only thing that the Eagles could do was go down from their current spot in the standings. While the Bears hoped to knock them down, it would not happen even after claiming the doubles point to start the match. However, it was a big day for No. 1 Chunxi Xin and No. 2 Fuka Nonoyama. These two were the lone singles competitors to claim victories and did so in opposite but astonishing ways. Xin dominated her way to get UCA on the board again as she bested the Eagles No. 1 easily 6-2, 6-1. Nonoyama took a different approach to the court as she was the last one to finish in a heart-pounding final match. The undefeated ASUN competitor rallied after losing the first set 7-6 as she claimed the second set late 7-5 and then eventually showcased her endurance with a 6-1 finish. This win marked her eighth win in the ASUN from the singles side as she now stands at 8-0 on the year in the conference.
Doubles:
No. 1 Xin/Nonoyama vs. Bardet/Ferding 6-4
No. 2 Vasupongchai/Ishimura vs. Retortillo/Macias 6-2
No. 3 Gledic/Hamanaga vs. Ossa/Norin 6-4
Singles:
No. 1 Xin vs. Bardet 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 Nonoyama vs. Colmenares 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 Lee vs. Norin 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 Vasupongchai vs. Ferding 6-7, 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 Hamanaga vs. Ossa 6-2, 7-5
No. 6 Gledic vs. Retorillo 6-4, 6-4
Next, the Bears stay home as they host Kennesaw State in the senior day showcase that will determine the No. 5 seed in the ASUN tournament. This match will start at 1 p.m. Saturday at the UCA Tennis Courts with senior day festivties being held after the match.
