Senior Maddie Mortimore produced the Bearkats' only point in a 6-1 Southland Conference women's tennis dual match loss to Central Arkansas Sunday afternoon at the McAdams Center.
Mortimore came back from an early first set deficit to defeat Rada Manataweewat 7-5 6-2 at the number five singles.
Fabienne Gettwart and Mila Milanovic paired to win the number one doubles set 6-3 over Marli Van Heerden and Xylia Chunan Xiang but the Bearkats fell at both the number two and three positions as UCA took the doubles point.
Sam Houston held leads in four of the singles matches, winning first sets at the number four and number six positions. But the Bears rallied for comeback victories as Central Arkansas upped its season record to 9-5. UCA holds a 4-3 mark in conference play.
“We have to be focused the entire match, not just part of it,” Sam Houston assistant coach Ollie Battye said. “This match was a mirror of Friday's loss to Bradley. We played well at times but couldn't finish. Youth can't be an excuse at this point of the season.”
Sam Houston now stands 6-8 for the year and owns a 1-4 mark in Southland play. The Bearkats take a road trip to South Texas next week, taking on A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday and Incarnate Word in San Antonio Saturday. The Bearkats have only one home match remaining. They host Abilene Christian on Saturday April 2.
Match Results:
Central Arkansas 6, Sam Houston State University 1
Doubles competition
1. Fabienne Gettwart/Mila Milanovic (SHSU) def. Marli Van Heerden/Xylia Chunan Xiang (UCA) 6-3
2. QiLi Ma/Rada Manataweewat (UCA) def. Ema Barkovic/Carrie Casey (SHSU) 7-5
3. Krizia Buck/Amiru Shimoguchi (UCA) def. Caitlyn Mitchell/Maddie Mortimore (SHSU) 6-2
Singles competition
1. Xylia Chunan Xiang (UCA) def. Fabienne Gettwart (SHSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Amiru Shimoguchi (UCA) def. Carrie Casey (SHSU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-1
3. QiLi Ma (UCA) def. Ema Barkovic (SHSU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Marli Van Heerden (UCA) def. Mila Milanovic (SHSU) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Maddie Mortimore (SHSU) def. Rada Manataweewat (UCA) 7-5, 6-2
6. Krizia Buck (UCA) def. Caitlyn Mitchell (SHSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-4)
