BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team moved to 5-2 (.714) on the season – matching its start from a year ago – after shutting out Oral Roberts, 7-0, Sunday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
 
"Oral Roberts is a very tough team," said head coach Scott Shankles. "We are familiar with them from their time in the Southland and have continued on with the series. They are a very scrappy team, and we knew today was going to be tough. The score is not indicative of exactly how tough this match was, or how close it really was. So I was proud of our guys pulling through."
 
Although the Cardinals picked up the 7-0 decision, LU was locked in some individual battles during singles that were forced to three sets. Big Red recorded three-set wins at Nos. 4 and 6 singles, along with junior Nikita Lis winning in a tiebreak in his opening set.
 
The Cardinals had little trouble claiming the doubles point. Big Red surrendered a total of six games in the three matches taking a quick 1-0 lead.
 
Junior Jeandre Hoogenboezem gave the Cards a 2-0 advantage after posting a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Golden Eagles' Michael Sosnowski at No. 5 singles. Freshman Sebastian Santibanez quickly followed suit with his 6-3, 6-1, decision against ORU's Jan Pehnec at the third spot. Santibanez's win would be the most lopsided singles win of the afternoon.
 
Junior Michael Feucht gave the Red and White an insurmountable lead with his straight sets win over Amar Saletovic at No. 1 singles. Sophomore Benny Schweizer, Lis and senior Steven McMullan added victories to round out the afternoon.
 
The Cardinals will have two weeks to prepare for a date with LSU. The match against the Tigers is slated to begin Sunday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. from Baton Rouge, La.
  
Singles
1. Michael Feucht (LU) def. Amar Saletovic (ORU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Nikita Lis (LU) def. Barnabas Koncz (ORU), 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
3. Sebastian Santibanez (LU) def. Jan Pehnec (ORU), 6-3, 6-1
4. Benny Schweizer (LU) def. Kenneth Boykin (ORU), 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
5. Jeandre Hoogenboezem (LU) def. Michael Sosnowski (ORU), 6-3, 6-4
6. Steven McMullan (LU) def. Alvaro Santamaria (ORU), 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
 
Doubles
1. Hoogenboezem/Lis (LU) def. Saletovic/Pehnec (ORU), 6-1
2. Feucht/Schweizer (LU) def. Boykin/Koncz (ORU), 6-2
3. Juuso Laitinen/Santibanez (LU) def. Sosnowski/Kenneth Braxton (ORU), 6-3