BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team continued its grueling five-match road swing Friday evening with its second consecutive match against a nationally ranked opponent. The Cardinals dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 14 Baylor Friday at The Met in Houston.
"This is a very talented team we played tonight," said LU head coach
Scott Shankles. "Baylor does not play like a young team, and they're ranked for a reason."
The Cardinals' senior duo of
Jeandre Hoogenboezem and
Nikita Lis jumped out to an early lead at No. 1 doubles. LU held a 5-3 advantage over Baylor's Bjoern Petersen and Constantin Frantzen late in the match, but play was halted when the Bears picked up victories on courts one and two for the point.
Big Red entered singles competition in unfamiliar territory – trailing 1-0 – but quickly tied the match when sophomore
Sebastian Santibanez put LU on the scoreboard at No. 4 singles. Santibanez picked up a 6-1 victory in the first set, but shortly after the second set got started BU's Petersen was forced to retire from the match handed the Red and White its first point of the night.
Despite tying the match, the Cardinals were not able to seize on the momentum. Frantzen put the Bears back in front with a straight-sets victory over
Juuso Laitinen at line six. The Bears Will Little picked up the team's third point with a straight-set winner at No. 5 singles.
The nationally ranked Bears picked up the overall victory when Juan Benitez defeated senior
Michael Feucht at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-1. The two teams finished out the matches on courts two and three and both ended with an identical 6-3, 6-1 scores.
The Cardinals will continue their road swing, and look to get back in the win column, Saturday, Feb. 11, when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Razorbacks. The match against Arkansas will begin at 10 a.m.
-LU CARDINALS-
