OMAHA, Neb. – When the Lamar University Cardinals men's tennis team stepped on the court Tuesday morning, it did so as one of the best teams in America. Fresh off their win against No. 47 Iowa Big Red started the day 61^st in the country. The Cardinals (8-5) got the day out to a hot start defending their ranking with a 6-1 victory at Omaha, but came up short to a strong Nebraska squad, 4-2, in the second match. The loss brought to an end a grueling six-match road swing that saw LU take on three nationally ranked schools.
 
"We took care of business against Omaha," said head coach Scott Shankles. "We just wanted to play our game and not change our mental focus. There were some close matches – we dropped a match at doubles and singles. Their record doesn't quite show just how talented they are."
 
The Cardinals got an easy opening win in doubles competition when the team of Jeandre Hoogenboezem and Nikita Lis bounced Omaha's Erik Anderson and Alex Woodward, 6-1. The duo of Michael Feucht and Benny Schweizer followed that up with a 6-4 decision over Colin Buckley and Ignace Warson for the point. The Mavericks closed out the doubles competition with a win at the No. 3 position but it was too little too late as the match was being played for bragging rights.
 
LU didn't take its foot off the accelerator in singles play. Feucht came through with an easy straight-sets win (6-3, 6-1) over Colin Buckley at No. 1 singles. Junior Jeandre Hoogenboezem gave Big Red a commanding 3-0 lead with his 6-4, 6-1 win over Marko Minic at the No. 4 position. The victory placed LU in the position of needing only one more win in the remaining four matches to earn the victory. The Cards received the win from freshman Schweizer at No. 3 singles.
 
The very next player off the court, Schweizer didn't allow Woodward to put up much of a fight ousting his opponent in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. The Cardinals faced very little threat from Omaha as only one match went to a third set and that came after the team victory had already been decided. Only two sets went to a tiebreak and those also came after the victory had been awarded.
 
Against the Huskers, the team's agreed to start with the singles competition first and LU didn't get out to the start it hoped for. Big Red fell behind 2-0 early before junior Juuso Laitinen pulled out a thrilling two-set victory at No. 6 singles. Laitinen defeated Nebraska's Bradford Zitsch in a tiebreaker in the first set. Not letting up, Laitinen returned in the second set to post another tough 7-5 win for the victory.
 
Schweizer followed suit with a victory at No. 4 singles in similar fashion posting a tiebreak victory in his opening set before ousting his opponent in the second but that would be as close as LU would get. The Huskers closed out the match with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
 
"The difference in Nebraska match was they came out with confidence and got early leads," said Shankles. "They won the first set in four of the six matches. In two of those four we had breaks but didn't take advantage of them. We got a little bit of momentum with Juuso and Benny winning but once again Nebraska got out to better starts in the third sets of the remaining matches and won."
 
 
The Cardinals return to action Friday, March 25th when they open Southland Conference play against Nicholls. The match against the Colonels is slated to begin at 9 a.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center. Admission to all LU tennis matches is free.1. Michael Feucht (LU) def. Colin Buckley (OU), 6-3. 6-1
2. Sebastian Santibanez (LU) def. Matt Dunn (OU), 4-6, 6-3, 10-3
3. Benny Schweizer (LU) def. Alex Woodward (OU), 6-4, 6-1
4. Jeandre Hoogenboezem (LU) def. Marko Minic (OU), 6-2, 6-1
5. John Ellis (OU) def. Trey Crysel (LU), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
6. Lukas Grubelnig (LU) def. Sean Padios (OU), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2

Doubles
1. Feucht/Schweizer (LU) def. Buckley/Ignace Warson (OU), 6-4
2. Hoogenboezem/Nikita Lis (LU) def. Erik Anderson/Woodard (OU), 6-1
3. Dunn/Ellis (OU) def. Juuso Laitinen/Santibanez (LU), 6-4
Singles
1. Dusty Boyer (Neb) def. Michael Feucht (LU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
2. Marc Herrmann (Neb) def. Nikita Lis (LU), 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
3. Toby Boyer (Neb) def. Sebastian Santibanez (LU), 6-4, 6-2
4. Benny Schweizer (LU) def. Tomislav Antoljak (Neb), 7-6, 6-2
5. Andrew Dzulynsky (Neb) def. Jeandre Hoogenboezem (LU), 7-5, 6-1
6. Juuso Laitinen (LU) def. Bradford Zitsch (Neb), 7-6, 7-5