BEAUMONT, Texas – The 2017 men's tennis season got under way Saturday in Houston, Texas as the defending Southland Conference champion Lamar University men's tennis team traveled to Houston, Texas to take on Rice. A 2016 NCAA tournament participant – along with the Cardinals – Rice was too much for LU in front of their own fans recording a 6-1 victory.
 
The Cardinals (0-1) dropped a hard-fought doubles match on court No. 1 to the nation's ninth-ranked squad but the team of senior Michael Feucht and sophomore Sebastian Santibanez battled back to even up the doubles. Feucht and Sebastian recorded a 6-4 decision over Oscar Janglin and Jamie Malik at line two doubles.
 
The Cards win at the second spot left the point's outcome squarely on the shoulders of the individuals on court No. 3. A back-and-forth affair, the match was forced to a tie break before being decided. The team of Juuso Laitinen and freshman Logan Powell came up just short in the tiebreaker falling, 7-6 (7-4).
 
Rice took a 1-0 lead into the singles competition and got straight-set wins at Nos. 6 and 3 singles respectively to push their advantage to 3-0 – needing only one more win for the overall victory. The Cardinals fought back with tough matches at Nos. 1 and 4 singles.
 
Feucht was locked in a tough battle with Rice's Tommy Bennett at No. 1 singles, but managed to squeak out a tough opening set victory, 7-6 (7-3). While Feucht took the lead into the second set, senior Jeandre Hoogenboezem battled back from an opening set loss to win the second set, 6-3, over Eric Rutledge forcing a third set on court four.
 
Laitinen dropped an opening-set tiebreaker on court five, which is where the Cardinals attempt at a rally seemed to come to an end. Rice was able to pick off a win on court two locking up the overall victory while the two marathon matches on courts one and four were still taking place. Rice closed out the match on court five with a straight-sets winner, while Hoogenboezem came up just short in the third set.
 
That left Big Red's final opportunity to pick up a win at No. 1 singles, and Feucht didn't disappoint. Court one's second set was just as tough as the first, but just like the first, Feucht prevailed with a 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 decision.
 
The Cardinals will have a week to prepare for their home opener against Alcorn State. LU will host the Braves in a doubleheader with the first match beginning at 10 a.m., and the second slated to get underway at 2 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Complex in Beaumont.
 
-LU CARDINALS-