The UCA women’s tennis team (9-5, 4-5 SLC) returned to a week of action, taking on three Southland Conference foes in the last round of conference play and ending with a match against Abilene Christian (12-6, 7-4 SLC) on Saturday, celebrating the most successful group of seniors in the program’s history.

In the match against Stephen F. Austin State University (14-6, 8-1 SLC), the Bears earned a victory from senior Kristina Horsikyan in the no. 3 match, where she defeated sophomore Denise Maxi 6-4, 6-4.

Senior Allison Murphy scored a 7-6, 7-6 win for UCA over junior Dhanielly Quevedo in the no. 4 match.

UCA senior Cassidy Crawford rallied for the victory in the no. 5 match, dropping the first set 4-6, before picking up the win by taking the next two sets 6-4, 6-0.

The Ladyjacks saw senior Malena Gordo take down junior Nataly Yoo 6-1, 6-4 in the no. 1 match, freshman Vivienne Kulicke defeat senior Kelsey Williams 6-2, 6-2 in the no. 2 match, and senior Julia Lorca beat junior Bianca Strukelj 7-5, 6-1 in the no. 6 match.

The day ended with the Ladyjacks winning all three doubles matches to secure the victory.

The Bears moved on to College Station to face Incarnate Word (2-19, 0-9 SLC) on April 16.

The UCA women’s tennis team took the court with energy for the second time in two days.

The Bears dominated the match, taking down UIW 4-1. The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead by taking two of the three doubles matches.

Murphy and Williams improved to 10-2 for the season with an 8-3 win over freshman Matea Zemunik and junior Antea Dedic, while Horsikyan and Strukelj moved to 9-4 on the year by taking down senior Malisa Vatanadilok and junior Taryn Strahl 8-6 in the no. 3 match.

Yoo pushed her record to 9-3 this year by taking the no. 1 match 6-2, 6-0 over freshman Rachel Sadiq, while Williams evened her record at 7-7 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Zemunik.

Murphy was the final Bear to score a win, moving to 12-2 with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Vatanadilok in the no. 4 match.

Strahl gave the Cardinals their only point that day, defeating Strukelj 6-4, 6-2 in the no. 5 match.

The no. 3 match between Horsikyan and sophomore Sarah Savedra and the no. 6 match featuring freshman Amanda Alvarez-Bargueno and Dedic went unfinished.

With expected inclement weather, the Bears made their way to North Little Rock to finish their weekend against Abilene Christian University for the Senior Day match.

The extra motivation was definitely needed after a week on the road.

As many of the players are not from Arkansas, phone calls were made for motivation to finish the season strong.

Williams called her parents in Australia before the weekend’s final matches.

“I just finished talking to my parents back home where it is the middle of the night,” Williams said. “They couldn’t be here for Senior Day, but they told me to give it my all and leave everything out on the court.”

The Bears were unable to get the engines going as they dropped the day 4-0 to the Wildcats.

Abilene Christian took two of the three doubles matches to secure its victory. Yoo and Crawford dropped the no. 1 match 8-5 to senior Brittney Reed and junior Kaysie Hermsdorf, with Horsikyan and Strukelj losing their match to freshman Lucile Pothier and freshman Carli Knezevich by a tally of 8-3.

In singles play, the Bears were exhausted. Williams dropped the no. 2 match 6-2, 6-0 to sophomore Erin Walker, while Crawford fell in the no. 5 match 6-2, 6-1 to Potnier.

Strukelj fell in the no. 6 match 6-1, 6-0 to junior Nada Marjanovic.

The nos. 1, 3, and 4 matches went unfinished.

Many factors go into winning matches, and with a hectic travel schedule for the week, the Bears were faced with another enemy off the court: fatigue.

“I can say on behalf of everyone on the team we are drained,” Williams said. “In the space of a week we have been on the road 31 hours, so I can tell you we are both mentally and physically drained.”

Williams stressed the importance of players keeping their focus when faced with a string of tough matches.

“Each match we just had to go out there and put behind us our last match and focus on the challenges that were being thrown at us,” Williams said.

With the season’s final match looming in the near future, Saturday was a bittersweet moment for many of the seniors.

Senior Day is a day of accomplishment and the close of a lifetime of playing.

“It is a bittersweet moment and very emotional,” Williams said. “I’ve been playing since I was 3 years old, so words can’t describe my emotions.”

The Bears finished the regular season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 10:30 a.m. April 20 in Belton, Texas.