March 15, 2005

Results

THIBODAUX, La. - For the seventh time in eight matches the Lamar men's tennis team earned a victory, dropping Nicholls State, 6-1, on Monday afternoon in a Southland Conference contest at the Nicholls Tennis Courts.

The win was the first league victory of the season for the Cardinals, who improved to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in SLC play. NSU fell for the 10th time this season, slipping to 0-10 overall and 0-4 in the league. LU returns to action on Tuesday, taking on rival Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. in Hammond, Louisiana.

The Cardinals started the match by sweeping through doubles play with three straight victories to earn the team point. Lamar's nationally-ranked doubles team of Dean Clower and Ignacio Melus recorded their 10th straight win with an 8-4 decision over NSU's No. 1 team of Sebastien Normand and Fabien LeFranc. The 58th-ranked tandem is now 10-1 on the year with a 2-0 SLC record.

Lamar's No. 2 doubles team of Juan Pablo Alatorre and Emilio Kirby did their best to keep pace with their teammates, posting an identical 8-4 victory. The senior duo has now won six straight and boasts a 7-4 doubles record. Senior Christian Olivier and sophomore David Wanja stayed perfect at the No. 3 spot, hammering the Colonels third unit, 8-1. Olivier and Wanja are now 4-0 this spring.

In singles play, LU had little trouble, losing only the No. 1 match between Alatorre and Normand. NSU's top player, Normand earned a straight set victory, 6-2 and 6-0. The Cardinals notched relatively easy straight set wins in the No. 2, 3, 5 and 6 matches, but Clower needed a second set tiebreaker to grab his eighth win of the season.

The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native won the first set of the No. 4 singles match, 6-4, but NSU's Denis Borisevich hung tough in the second set. Tied 6-6, the pair needed a tiebreaker to decide the winner and Clower powered his way to a 7-2 win to clinch the game, set and match.