BEAUMONT, Texas – After two weeks off, the Lamar University women's tennis team (3-2) returns to action Saturday to take on UT Rio Grande Valley. Winners of two straight, the Cardinals enter the week looking for their third consecutive victory which would be just one shy of its longest streak all of last season.
 
Big Red swept a doubleheader last time out defeating Alcorn State by a combined score of 10-1 in Beaumont. LU now hits the road for its first match away from Beaumont since last month.
 
The Vaqueros have struggled out of the gate with a 1-8 (.111) overall record, and have dropped eight consecutive. UTRGV had faced three consecutive shutouts, and had been defeated by a combined score of 37-2 in its previous six matches before dropping a heartbreaking 5-4 decision against Texas A&M-Kingsville last time out. The Vaqueros have been shutout four times this season and have been held to just a point in three other matches.
 
UT Rio Grande Valley's struggles have come following a strong start in the season opener. The Vaqueros open the year with a 5-2 victory over Prairie View A&M in Huntsville, Texas.
 
The Cardinals are 15-4 (.789) all-time against UT Rio Grande Valley (formerly known as UT Pan American). Saturday's match will be the first meeting between the two programs since the 2012 season. That year, the Cardinals defeated UT Rio Grande Valley, 7-0, in Beaumont.
 
Saturday's match is slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. from the Orville I. Cox Tennis Center in Edinburg, Texas. It will also serve as the team's final tune up before opening Southland Conference play Saturday, Mar. 4 against Stephen F. Austin.
 
-LU CARDINALS-