The Razorbacks kick off the fall season with a bang at the UCA Invite

CONWAY, Arche. – The University of Arkansas women’s tennis team had a successful weekend to start the fall season at the UCA Invitational, pocketing 19 wins in total.

The Razorbacks faced competition from Central Arkansas, Harding, Arkansas State, Southern Arkansas, McNeese State, Oral Roberts, Kansas City, Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City and Murray State over the two invitational days.

Arkansas had 10 singles wins with three Razorbacks ranking among the best in their steals. Sophomore Morgan Cross impressed with her two wins over Canete of Central Oklahoma (7-5, 5-7, 10-3) and Britt of Harding (6-2.6-2). Cross ended the invitation by defeating Fuka Nonoyama (6-4, 6-4).

The most recent addition to the roster, transfer Lenka Stara, took his first victories as a pig. Stara beat her first two opponents in straight sets, MSU Geolier (6-2, 6-2) and Oklahoma City Brocks (6-3, 6-0). Finishing her first weekend as a Razorback, Stara battled in a three-set tiebreaker to defeat Jaeun Lee of Central Arkansas (6-2, 3-6, 10-4).

Senior Laura Rijkers shone in her three wins, taking first place in the third flight. Rijkers claimed two wins over Allison Carpenter of Harding (6-4, 6-1) and Yada Vasupongchai of UCA (6-2, 6-4) on day one and defeated Kreugel of Murray State (7-5, 6 – 4) for the championship.

In doubles, the two Razorback duos went undefeated this weekend to win their steals. Morgan Cross teamed up with Tatum Rice to quickly take out the Arkansas State Rice / Zukic pair, 6-1, on the first robbery. Cross and Rice quickly took first place in a 6-2 victory over Xin and Nonoyama of Central Arkansas.

The Razorback duo of Lenka Stara and Laura Rijkers advanced to the quarter-finals in the second steal, beating the pair of Racers, 6-3. Stara and Rijkers fought hard in the final against UCA’s Vasupongchai and Ishimura and won 7-5.

The Razorbacks will continue the fall game in two weeks, when they travel to Waco, TX to compete in the HEB Invitational hosted by Baylor (October 1-3).

Fans are encouraged to visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas women’s tennis. You can also find the Hogs on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Women’s Tennis) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackWTEN).