BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's tennis team closes out the 2016 regular season with two matches away from Beaumont. The Cardinals (9-9/4-5 Southland) will be in Natchitoches, La. to take on Northwestern State Saturday (11 a.m.) followed by the regular-season finale at 2015 Southland Conference co-champion Stephen F. Austin 25 hours later.
 
The Cardinals enter the week ninth overall in the conference standings but have already secured at least the No. 8 spot in the 2016 Southland Conference tournament due to the face that Abilene Christian is not eligible for postseason play. In addition to having secured a spot in the playoffs, LU can make a significant climb in the standings in the final two matches of the season. Seven teams enter the final week of the season separated by a total of two wins including five teams who are just a match up on the Cardinals in the win column.
 
The Cards come into the Saturday showdown against the Demons needing only one more win to improve upon their 2015 season. The Red and White already has more Southland wins than last season with a chance to add to that list.
 
Northwestern State comes into the final week of the season with a 9-10 (.474) overall record and is in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference standings with a 5-4 (.556) record. Northwestern State enters the showdown against Big Red having won two-straight and four of its last five and coming off a one-point decision at McNeese State last time out.
 
The 2015 Southland Conference co-champion Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks enter the weekend looking to turn things around before the start of the tournament. The Ladyjacks are 11-8 (.579) overall and a part of the same three-way tie in the conference standings with Northwestern State. SFA heads into the final weekend of the season looking to turn things around having dropped two of its last three but is coming off a 5-2 victory over Nicholls. The Cardinals have found success this season when taking on defending conference champions. LU defeated the other 2015 co-champion, Nicholls, 5-2, earlier this season in Thibodaux, La.
 
Following Sunday's regular-season finale in Nacogdoches, the Cardinals have two weeks to prepare for the Southland Conference Championships which will also be held in Nacogdoches, Texas on the SFA campus. The tournament begins Friday, April 22^nd.
                                                                                                                                                            
-LU CARDINALS-