CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas tennis program is set to open its 2024 spring slate with a trip to Tulsa. The Bears open the season with matches with Oral Roberts and Tulsa.
While the Bears are a youthful squad in 2024, there will be a good bit of continuity, with players returning from the 2023 squad, in Ting-An Chen, Sumomo Hamanaga, Nanoka Kazama, Konomi Miyakawa, and Vichitraporn Vimuktananda. However, UCA has a heavy presence of underclassmen, with only one senior in Fuka Nonoyama, and one junior in Hamanaga. The Bears have two freshmen coming into the fold in 2024, Seohyun Park and Harune Shigemasu, with each earning a few singles wins in the fall slate.
The Bears kick off things on Saturday night in Tulsa at the Southern Hills Country Club against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts finished 2023 with a 7-12 record, with wins against Missouri State, Western Illinois, South Dakota, and Kansas City. ORU has seven players returning from 2023 as the Golden Eagles are an incredibly experienced team with four seniors. UCA has a 6-1 record against Oral Roberts, with the most recent matchup being in January of 2020. UCA's only loss to the Golden Eagles came in the 2012 season, a 4-1 defeat.
The Bears will then turn around and play Tulsa on Sunday morning. The Hurricanes are already 3-0 on the young season, as they had a home tournament last weekend. Tulsa took down Omaha, Louisiana Tech, and Wyoming in three dominant efforts, so the Bears will have an early test to start 2024. Tulsa has four juniors and a fifth year with four freshmen, so the Hurricanes have a nice blend of experience and youth this season. UCA is 0-2 in recent years against Tulsa, with a 7-0 defeat in 2021 and a 6-1 loss in 2019.
UCA kicks off the season on Saturday, January 20th at 7:00 p.m. against Oral Roberts at Southern Hills Country Club. The Bears then wrap up the road trip on Sunday, January 21st 10:30 a.m. against Tulsa.
