SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State tennis head coach Austin Hale earned his first win as head coach of the Bears with a 6-1 victory over Central Arkansas at home on Sunday.
 
The Bears had a dominant showing in doubles play with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. The duo of Billur Gonlusen and Tuana Gunal secured the ever-important first point for MoState with a 6-3 win over Vicitraporn Vimuktanda and Seohyun Park from UCA. Romy Pols and Nicole Ross added to the fun with their win over Ting-An Chen and Haruen Shiegmasu by the same margin. Central Arkansas defaulted on the No. 3 match to give Missouri State the sweep in doubles.
 
It was a day for Türkiye's finest. Gunal earned her first win of the spring over UCA's Harune Shiegmasu. Gunal, a native of Gebze, Türkiye, flew through the first set to take it 6-1. But Shiegamsu did not want to go down without a fight. In the second set, she tied it up 5-5. Gunal oushed through to take the next two sets to win her match 7-5.
 
Gonlusen pushed her winning streak to four matches with her win at No. 2. Hailing from Adana, Türkiye, Gonlusen took both sets by a score of 6-3 over Central Arkansas' Ting-An Chen.
 
UCA defaulted singles matches No. 4, 5 and 6.
 
The Bears head back out on to the road for the rest of the month of February. They will face Missouri on Feb. 15 at 11:00 a.m. and SIUE on Feb. 16 at 10:00 a.m.
   
Results
Missouri State (1-6) – 6, Central Arkansas (2-4) – 1
Doubles
1. Billur Gonlusen/Tuana Gunal (MOST) defeated Vichitraporn Vimuktanda/Seohyun Park (UCA) – 6-3
2. Nicole Ross/Romy Pols (MOST) defeated Ting-An Chen/Harune Shigemasu (UCA) – 6-3
3. Sandra Lukacova/Raluca Puscas (MOST) win by default
 
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
 
Singles
1. Tuana Gunal (MOST) defeated Harune Shigemasu (UCA) – 6-1, 7-5
2. Billur Gonlusen (MOST) defeated Ting-An Chen (UCA) – 6-3, 6-3
3. Nicole Ross (MOST) lost to Seohyun Park (UCA) – 6-2, 6-4
4. Sandra Lukacova (MOST) wins by default
5. Raluca Puscas (MOST) wins by default
6. Romy Pols (MOST) wins by default
 
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1