EDINBURG, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team moved a match above .500 for the first time this season after a dominating performance against UT Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg Sunday afternoon. Big Red posted a 6-1 victory over the Vaqueros to improve to 3-2 (.600) on the season, and end their season-opening five-match road swing with a winning record.
 
The Cardinals overwhelmed UTRGV winning all their matches in straight sets. Big Red surrendered only three games, or less, in 10 sets, with only two sets going to a tiebreaker.
 
"It feels good to come away with a winning record after a long road swing, but we have a veteran lineup so I knew they could handle this going into the season," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "Doubles was tough for us today. Their No. 1 team played very well, and we were down three match points at No. 3 doubles. Things really didn't look all that promising, but you have to give credit to Juuso and Sebastian for never quitting and rallying to give us the doubles point.
 
"We've been playing strong in singles so far this season so our guys are confident no matter the situation. We have a deep squad this year and one of our strengths is our four, five and six spots in the lineup. We knew they would help us out. Although the score doesn't indicate it, this was a very tough match today," added Shankles.
 
UTRGV picked up wins at the top spots in both singles and doubles, but that would be as close to an overall victory as they would get. After dropping the match at No. 1 doubles, LU bounced right back with wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions. The team of junior Michael Feucht and sophomore Bennie Schweizer recorded LU's first victory of the day at No. 2 doubles, while junior Juuso Laitinen and freshman Sebastian Santibanez rallied for a thrilling win at the No. 3 position.
 
The Cardinals two doubles victories sparked a run that saw LU rattle off seven consecutive wins and clinch the win before UTRGV dented the scoreboard.
 
It was the bottom half of the Cardinals lineup that closed out the victory beginning with junior Jeandre Hoogenboezem's 6-2, 6-1, victory over Etham Ammon at No. 5 singles. Schweizer put the Red and White within a point of the overall victory with his win over Cosme Jubera at No. 4 singles by the same score. Laitinen clinched the decision with his 6-0, 6-3, victory over UTRGV's Harry Wells at the sixth spot in the order.
 
Big Red closed out the match with wins from Santibanez and junior Nikita Lis at No. 3 and 2 singles respectively, before the Vaqueros scored their only point of the day at the No. 1 spot.
 
The Cardinals return home to open the home portion of their schedule Friday when they host Prairie View A&M. The match against the Panthers is slated to begin at 2 p.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
 
-LU CARDINALS-
  
Singles
1. Juan Cruz Soria (UTRGV) def. Michael Feucht (LU), 7-6, 6-4
2. Nikita Lis (LU) def. Yehonatan Kaufman (UTRGV), 6-2, 7-6
3. Sebastian Santibanez (LU) def. Koby Jansen (UTRGV), 6-3, 6-3
4. Benny Schweizer (LU) def. Cosme Jubera (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-1
5. Jeandre Hoogenboezem (LU) def. Ethan Ammon (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-1
6. Juuso Laitinen (LU) def. Harry Wells (UTRGV), 6-0, 6-3
 
Doubles
1. Cruz-Soria/Kaufman (UTRGV) def. Hoogenboezem/Lis (LU), 6-3
2. Feucht/Schweizer (LU) def. Jansen/Ammon (UTRGV), 6-4
3. Laitinen/Santibanez (LU) def. Jubera/Wells (UTRGV), 7-5