BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team enters the final stretch run of the 2016 season with three matches remaining. The Cardinals (12-5/3-0 Southland) enter those final three matches of the season locked in a two-way tie for first place with defending conference champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Of the team's three remaining matches only two are Southland contests. The Cards play Rice Saturday, but if they get by Incarnate Word in their second match of the week it would set up a showdown between two league heavyweights.
 
The Cardinals enter the week having jumped three places, to 68^th, in the most recent ITA poll and have won four-straight and six of their last seven, while the Islanders have won the last six SLC regular-season titles and eight of the past nine.
 
But before the Cardinals can think of its growing rivalry with A&M-Corpus Christi, it will have to get past tough Rice and Incarnate Word squads. The Owls enter the week as one of the nation's top-ranked teams. When to the two schools meet at the Thompson Family Tennis Center it will be a matchup of No. 68 LU and No. 28 Rice. The Owls are 17-6 (.739) overall and have won three of their last four, but are coming off a 4-1 loss at TCU.
 
Saturday's match against the Owls is slated to begin at 11 a.m. from Thompson Family Tennis Center. The Cards are a perfect 5-0 at home this season and have outscored opponents 32-3 in those matches with four shutouts.
 
Following the match with the Owls, LU will hit the road for a contest against the Southland's other Cardinals – Incarnate Word. The match against UIW is slated to begin just 26 hours after the start of Big Red's match with the Owls. UIW enters the week 7-12 (.368) overall and still looking for its first conference win. San Antonio's version of the Cardinals are 0-3 in league play and will play A&M-Corpus Christi Friday before hosting LU.
 
In addition to the Cards as a team jumping in the national rankings, so did LU's top-ranked doubles team of junior Michael Fuecht and sophomore Benny Schweizer. The duo jumped two places to 41^st nationally.
 
The Cardinals return to action Wednesday in the regular-season finale against the Islanders. The match against A&M-Corpus Christi will also serve as senior day for the Cardinals.
                                                                                                                                                            
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