BEAUMONT, Texas – As the third weekend in January approaches, another sport is set to kick off a new season on college campuses across the country. That is the situation for the Lamar University women's tennis team Saturday when it travels to Houston to open the 2017 spring schedule with two matches. The official opener will be against Prairie View A&M at 10 a.m. The Cardinals will follow that up by making the short drive over to Rice University to take on the Owls. The match against the Owls is slated to begin at 5 p.m.
 
The Cardinals return five letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 9-12 (.429) overall record and finished eighth in the Southland Conference with a 4-7 (.364) league mark. In addition to the returners, LU head coach David Wong also added newcomers Jasmin Buchta and Sanja Jolic to the roster.
 
Prairie View A&M enters the week with an 0-2 overall record having dropped decisions against Sam Houston State and UT Rio Grande Valley. The Panthers posted a 5-19 (.208) overall record last season, and finished fifth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 3-4 (.429) mark. Saturday's match will be the first meeting between the two schools since the 2015 season. LU bested the Panthers, 6-1, in that match.
 
The Rice Owls are coming off a 14-10 (.583) campaign last season that saw them advance to the second round of the NCAA Championships before bowing out to Vanderbilt. The Cardinals have faced Rice each of the past two seasons but have come up short each time.
 
The Cardinals will be on the road for one more match (Jan. 29 at North Texas) before opening the home portion of the schedule Saturday, Feb. 11^th with a doubleheader against Alcorn State.
 
-LU CARDINALS-