UCA’s tennis team racked up wins in its doubles match against the University of North Alabama, but couldn’t keep the same momentum in the singles matches, ultimately losing 5-2.
The matchup looked difficult from the get-go, as UCA (7-9, ASUN 0-3) prepared to compete with the nearly undefeated UNA (12-2, ASUN 4-0).
UCA coach Casey Wharton said, “It was not such an obvious gap that we didn’t think we could win. If we played them ten times at their place, we might win 4.”
The Bears started out strong with wins on courts 1 and 3. UCA secured its doubles match 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 with room to spare. Its streak did not continue in singles play, however.
Wharton said, “We like doubles, I want to be good at doubles because it’s high energy, and it sets the momentum to go into singles, but at the end of it, it’s still just 1 point.”
The Lions scored game after game in the first singles sets as UCA struggled to find its stride. The Bears pushed back hard in the second singles sets, but couldn’t overcome UNA’s lead, losing 5 matches and cementing their loss.
This marks UCA’s second loss to UNA, now its largest margin of loss as well, leaving the Bears with a losing streak of 2 games against UNA. The Bears are still looking for a conference win, currently on a losing streak of 3 games.
Opening the day with the doubles match, UCA took a quick lead as junior Ting-An Chen and freshman Nanami Fukushima dominated their set 6-1.
This was followed by junior Nanoka Kazama and sophomore Harune Shigemasu’s close loss 6-4, leaving the match up to the last set, which lasted much longer than the other sets — both teams watched from the sidelines with bated breath.
Though the Lions started to catch up in the last set, junior Vichitraporn Vimuktananda and junior Konomi Miyakawa clinched their set 7-5, securing UCA’s first match.
The singles matches did not go as smoothly, however; Vimuktananda lost their first match 6-2, 6-1, which put the teams at a tie. This was shortly followed by Miyakawa’s loss 6-3, 6-0, putting UNA in the lead overall.
Wharton said, “If you win against them in doubles, it can wake them up and make them play better in singles.”
Shigemasu, Chen and Kazama similarly found trouble in their matches, struggling to gain a lead in the first sets. They picked up the pace in their second sets, though, closing the gap between them and their opponents.
However, the Bears were ultimately unable to take the lead. Shigemasu lost 6-1, 7-5, giving UNA its 3rd match, and Chen lost 6-1, 7-5, which solidified UCA’s loss with UNA’s 4th match.
In a second set match like Shigemasu and Chen’s, Kazama lost 6-2, 7-5. This loss marked UNA’s 5th scored match against UCA.
Sophomore Seohyun Park was the only UCA player to win their singles match, taking their opponent to a third set and eking out a win 6-2, 2-6, 1(10)-0(8).
With Park’s match finishing, the game’s score ended at 5-2, UCA’s loss. This is UCA’s 3rd consecutive conference loss, leaving them 7-9 for the season.
Wharton said, “I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential, but we’re moving in the right direction.”