BEAUMONT, Texas – Southland Conference Coach of the Year Scott Shankles and his regular-season champion Cardinals set their sights on the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships Saturday when they open play in the semifinals of the league tournament. The top-seeded Cards (15-5) open things up against fourth-seeded Nicholls (3-13). The conference semifinals are slated to begin Saturday at 10 a.m. All matches will be played at the Schlief Tennis Complex in Nacogdoches, Texas.
 
The Cardinals enter the league's postseason tournament with a lot of firepower led by player of the year, Michael Feucht. Just a junior, Feucht is joined by five teammates who earned all-conference honors in singles play this season, including four first-team selections. All six Cardinals received all-league honors in doubles in 2016.

The Cardinals enter the tournament riding a wave of momentum laying claim to their first Southland regular-season title since 1976 season. The league's hottest team, the Cardinals have won seven-straight matches and have not suffered defeat since a 4-2 setback at Nebraska last month.
 
The Colonels enter the postseason as the league's No. 4 seed with a 3-13 (.188) overall record and a 1-4 mark in conference play. The Cardinals recorded a 7-0 victory in the regular-season matchup between the two schools.
 
The Colonels enter the postseason having dropped three straight and four of their last five. The lone victory during that stretch was a 4-0 win against Omaha on Mar. 22. LU and Nicholls did not meet in last year's conference tournament.
 
The other half of the Southland bracket has No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi taking on third-seeded New Orleans. The Islanders are (15-7/4-1 SLC) taking on a UNO squad who is 7-8 (.467) on the season and 2-3 (.400) in the league matches. The Islanders enter the tournament having won five of their last six matches, while the Privateers look to right the ship having dropped three of their last four.
 
If the Cardinals should advance to the Southland Championships, it would be the third consecutive year head coach Scott Shankles has guided the Cards into the finals. The championship match is slated to begin Sunday, April 24^th at 11 a.m.
 
-LU CARDINALS-