CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas tennis program will head down to Florida this weekend to continue ASUN play in the Sunshine State. UCA split a pair of home matches with North Alabama and Jacksonville State last weekend, and now will draw Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson.
UCA enjoyed a win against North Alabama that looked dominant on the box score, but in reality it took a lot of grit, and really showed UCA's toughness. Then on Sunday, the Bears dropped a tough match to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. UCA comes into this weekend at 7-6 and an even 1-1 in ASUN play.
Freshman Vichitraporn Vimuktananda continued to have a great start to her collegiate career, going 2-0 last weekend with some relatively dominant victories. She is now 6-3 on the year and is becoming a very solid player over her first season at UCA. Nanoka Kazama also gritted her way to two wins on the weekend to improve her record to 7-6 on the season.
The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles come into this weekend at 9-4. The Eagles played a pretty impressive non-conference schedule to open up the 2023 season, including victories over Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, and South Florida. This weekend will be FGCU's first taste of ASUN action this year. The Eagles were a dangerous team in 2022 with an 8-1 ASUN record, so FGCU should provide an excellent test for the young Bears team. 2022 was the only time the two teams have ever met, with the Eagles walking out of Conway with a 4-3 victory.
The Stetson Hatters will host the Bears in the second game this weekend, and own a 10-5 record to date. The Hatters also own some impressive wins over Oakland and Charleston, and were narrowly defeated by No. 23 UCF back in January. Stetson, like FGCU, has not played an ASUN game to date, and were also 8-1 in the ASUN in 2022. This is another team that UCA has only played once, last year at Stetson, where the Hatters enjoyed a 4-3 victory.
UCA will face Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, Florida on Friday, March 17th at 4:00 p.m. Then on Sunday, March 19th, the Bears will take on Stetson at 10:00 a.m.
