Feb. 18, 2005

Results

PRAIRIE VIEW - Senior Dean Clower won his third straight singles match, leading the Lamar men's tennis team to a 5-2 non-conference win over Prairie View A&M on Wednesday afternoon at the PV Tennis Center.

With the win, Lamar snapped a four-match losing skid while improving to 2-4 on the year.

The dual match opened with doubles action, where Clower and teammate Ignacio Melus paired to win their fourth consecutive match. The tandem improved to 4-1 on the year with a difficult 9-7 decision over PV's No. 1 team of Blessing Bvanzawabaya and Nicolas Bateman. LU's Emilio Kirby and Juan Pablo Alatorre picked up an 8-6 at the No. 2, while the Cardinals' No. 3 squad fell 8-6.

In singles play, Alatorre and freshman Emmanuel Olivier lost in straight sets at the No. 1 and No. 6, respectively. Kirby, a native of Neuquen, Argentina, rolled to his first singles win of the year with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Andy Narido at the No. 2.

Melus, a senior from Arica, Chile, overcame a 7-6 first-set loss by taking the second set 6-2. He then outlasted PV's Bateman to capture the match with a 10-7 pro-set win.

Clower, a Broken Arrow, Oklahoma product, stayed perfect at the No. 4 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kudzai Chiridza. Senior Christian Olivier, older brother of Emmanuel, also earned a straight set win with a 6-2, 6-4 decision over David Herrera at the No. 5 position.

The Cardinals return to action this weekend, beginning on Friday at 1 p.m. with a non-conference match at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana.