BEAUMONT, Texas – Off to one of their best starts under head coach Scott Shankles, the Lamar University tennis team returns to action Wednesday to take on Presbyterian College in Thibodaux, La. The neutral site match will take place at the Colonel Tennis Complex on the Nicholls State campus.
 
Big Red enters its lone match of the week with a 5-3 (.625) overall record having won four of its last five matches but is coming off a tough 6-1 setback at No. 37 LSU. Junior Michael Feucht led the LU attack in a match that was closer than the final score indicated. The Cards were just edged out in the second doubles match as LSU picked up the doubles point. Had LU been able to defeat the Tigers' nationally ranked doubles team at line one there was a strong chance they could have won the point. The Cardinals were leading 6-5 at No. 2 doubles.
 
After just missing out on a doubles victory, Feucht battled right back to win his match at No. 1 singles. The Augsburg, Germany native leads the squad with five singles victories on the season.
 
Although the scoreboard showed a 6-1 victory for LSU, the decision was a lot closer when looking at the individual matches. Three matches had to go to a third set before being decided, and four sets were forced to tiebreaks before a point was awarded.
 
Presbyterian is 4-10 (.286) on the season but has won two of its past three matches and is coming off a 4-3 win over Xavier (La.) University.
 
The Cardinals step on the court Wednesday looking to avenge a loss to Presbyterian last season. LU dropped a 5-2 decision to the Blue Hose. Wednesday's meeting will be the second meeting ever on the court between the two teams.
 
Following the match against Presbyterian, the Cardinals will have 11 days to tune-up for arguably their toughest stretch of the season. LU will be in Stillwater, Okla., Sunday, March 13 to take on Oklahoma State. The match against the Cowboys will kick off a stretch of four matches in 49 hours that will include OSU, Iowa, Omaha and Nebraska.
 
Wednesday's match against the Blue Hose is slated to begin at 10 a.m.
 
-LU CARDINALS-