CONWAY, Ark. – The University of Central Arkansas tennis program is set to head down to Natchitoches, Louisiana this weekend to take on both Northwestern State and LSU-Shreveport. The Bears record currently stands at 5-6 with one weekend left before conference play arrives.
A few weekends ago, UCA went down to Tennessee and split a neutral match with Jacksonville State and a road match at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. UCA won the doubles point against Jacksonville State, with the pair of Vichitraporn Vimuktananda and Sumomo Hamanaga taking an early decision 6-1, and the pair of Nanoka Kazama and Harune Shigemasu clinching the point with a 6-3 decision. In singles play, Harune Shigemasu continued to impress in the No. 6 spot, winning in rather dominant fashion, 6-2, 6-0.
The first opponent this weekend for the Bears is the Lady Demons of Northwestern State. The Lady Demons are an impressive 7-3 on the season, which included a six game winning streak before falling to Louisiana Tech on February 25th. Northwestern State has wins over Tarleton, Southern Miss, Sam Houston, and the team that UCA will face on Saturday afternoon, LSU-Shreveport. The Lady Demons' 2024 campaign has included tough losses to open the season including TCU and in-state foes, Tulane and Louisiana Tech. UCA is 6-12 all-time against the Lady Demons, and the two teams haven't met since the 2021 season. UCA has won five of the last six meetings, and will look to keep rolling in the series this weekend.
UCA will finish things off this weekend with a match against LSU – Shreveport. The Pilots come into this weekend with an even 3-3 record on the season, winning matches over Louisiana Christian twice and another decision over Lewis-Clark State. The Pilots and Bears have never faced off on the court before, so this should be a great opportunity for a young UCA team.
UCA takes on NWSU on Saturday, March 9th at 10:00 p.m. and then LSU-Shreveport at 2:00 p.m. To follow along with all things UCA Tennis, go to @UCATennis on Twitter/X.
