ABILENE – For Abilene Christian women's tennis to win the Southland Conference regular-season crown, it all comes down to Saturday's neutral-site match vs. McNeese (in Tyler, Texas) after the Wildcats Sunday lost a tough 5-2 decision at Central Arkansas. The Bears (16-7, 8-2 SLC) have won their last three duals against the Wildcats to pull within 1.0 game of first place.
ACU (13-9) leads the league with a 9-1 record but Northwestern State today defeated Incarnate Word, 7-0, to finish 9-2, and UCA can also finish 9-2 if it beats Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13-6, 6-4 SLC) Friday in Waco. A win Saturday for ACU vs. the defending conference champion Cowgirls (11-8, 6-4 SLC) will give the Wildcats top seeding at the tournament, but a loss will drop them into a possible two or three-way tie with the Bears and Lady Demons.
In the case of a three-team tiebreak the Southland Conference compares total match points won among the tied group, and with this scenario in play the tiebreak would favor the Bears (8) since they scored five points vs. the Wildcats and three vs. the Lady Demons. ACU would be second with seven points (5 vs. NSU, 2 vs. UCA) followed by NSU with six points (2 vs. ACU, 4 vs. UCA).
The Wildcats this afternoon were quickly dropped into a 3-0 hole as a close doubles battle at all three positions was followed by straight-set losses at the No. 1 and 3 positions. Senior
Jordan Henry, however, got the Wildcats on the board with a 6-1, 6-4 decision at No. 4 vs. Yada Vasupongchai for her 14th win of the spring, but junior
Sarah Adams just missed getting her match to a third set after bowing 6-2, 7-5 at No. 2 vs. Fuka Nonoyama.
Afterward, freshman
Allison Stewart picked up the team's second point with a No. 5 line win over QiLi Ma (UCA) 6-4, 7-5, and then Rada Manataweewat held off sophomore
Ileana Mocciola at No. 6, 7-5, 7-6. Stewart's win tied Henry for the team lead at 14 and kept her perfect in Southland Conference play at 10-0.
Stewart additionally is 12-3 at No. 5 and is 9-1 over her last 10 matches.
Central Arkansas 5, Abilene Christian 2
Apr 14, 2019 at Conway, Ark. (UCA Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. Chunxi Xin (UCA) def.
Nini Memishishi (ACU) 6-3, 6-0
2. Fuka Nonoyama (UCA) def.
Sarah Adams (ACU) 6-2, 7-5
3. Marli Van Heerden (UCA) def. Autumn Bellow (ACU) 6-3, 6-0
4.
Jordan Henry (ACU) def. Yada Vasupongchai (UCA) 6-1, 6-4
5.
Allison Stewart (ACU) def. QiLi Ma (UCA) 6-4, 7-5
6. Rada Manataweewat (UCA) def.
Ileana Mocciola (ACU) 7-5, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. Chunxi Xin/Marli Van Heerden (UCA) def.
Nini Memishishi/
Sarah Adams (ACU) 6-4
2. QiLi Ma/Rada Manataweewat (UCA) vs. Autumn Bellow/
Ileana Mocciola (ACU) 6-5, unfinished
3. Fuka Nonoyama/Yada Vasupongchai (UCA) def.
Jordan Henry/
Allison Stewart (ACU) 7-5
Match Notes
Abilene Christian 13-9
Central Arkansas 16-7
Doubles Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles Order of Finish: 3,1,4,2,5,6
