LOS ANGELES – The Lamar University men's tennis team recorded a split on its final day of competition on the West Coast. The Cards were defeated by Utah, 4-2, but bounced to defeat UC Irvine, 5-2, in Irvine to close the trip with a 2-1 mark.
Thursday evening's match against UC Irvine closed out a six-match road swing for the Cardinals (10-6) who have played 11 of their last 13 away from Beaumont.
The LU men appeared to be on their way to starting West Coast swing 2-0 but the Utah Utes rallied late for the 4-2 victory.
"It was a tough back and forth match," said LU head coach
Scott Shankles. "Ultimately, we didn't hold onto a couple of first set leads, and that was the difference in the match. Utah played good when they needed to."
The match was exciting from the first serve as the Cardinals edged out Utah in the doubles competition for the first point of the day, but it came down to the wire. With each team putting a doubles win on the scoreboard the point came down to court number three. The team of senior
Juuso Laitinen and
Logan Powell won the point in dramatic fashion. The Cards duo saved three match points in the tiebreaker to win 8-6 to give Big Red the early lead.
The Utes battled right back in the early part of singles to stake claim to a 2-1 advantage, but senior
Michael Feucht put an end to the run. Feucht jumped out to a huge lead in the opening set against Utah's David Micevski at No.1 singles. Feucht won the first set, 6-1, and then came back in the second set with a 6-4 victory to tie the match at two.
The next two matches to come off the court – Nos. 4 and 6 singles – both went to a third set before the outcome was decided but the Cardinals came out on the short end. Junior
Logan Powell was up a set and serving for the match in the second, but Egbert Weverink rallied to win in the second and recorded a 6-1 victory in the third. The two three-set victories gave Utah the team victory.
The Cardinals bounced back in the nightcap picking up a three-point victory over the Anteaters. The Cardinals took thrilling tiebreak victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles for the first lead of the match.
Senior
Nikita Lis added to the Cardinals lead with a dominant performance at No. 2 singles. He dispensed Irvine's Luca Marquard in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, to give the Cardinals a 2-0 advantage. Lis' singles win was one of four-straight singles victories as LU jumped out to a four-point lead, and the team victory, before UC Irvine could get on the scoreboard.
The Anteaters closed out the match with the final two victories of the day – courts three and four – for the final score.
The Cardinals now have eight days to prepare for their Southland Conference opener against Incarnate Word. The match against the Cardinals is set to begin at 3 p.m. Friday, March 24, from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
-LU CARDINALS-
