LAFAYETTE, La. – Winners of seven straight, and eight of their last nine, the Lamar University Cardinals defeated Northwestern State, 6-1, Wednesday afternoon in a makeup match that was originally scheduled to be played in Beaumont. The Cardinals (13-5/5-1 Southland) are now just a half game out of first place in the Southland standings, but tied for the top spot in the loss column with two other teams.
"It seems like every match we play consists of numerous three-set decisions, but I like how we are handling adversity," said LU head coach
David Wong. "Everything is not always going to go your way, and as an athlete you need to be able to handle those situations and figure out a way to win. I think we did that today. This was a hard fought match.
"Northwestern State is a very good team, and you can't make mistakes against them or they will make you pay. I think we minimized that, but the match was only one or two plays away from being a very different score," added Wong.
The Cardinals are proving they have the endurance to go the distance in their matches as three more singles contests were forced to a third set. LU has now played seven three-set matches in their last two contests, and have posted a perfect 7-0 record on those courts.
The doubles point was in doubt throughout all three matches Wednesday. After the Cardinals took the opening match on court No. 3, Northwestern State fought back with a victory at the No. 1 position. The Cardinals' duo of senior
Talisa Merchiers and junior
Stephanie Marchena pulled out the doubles point with their 6-3 decision at the No. 2 position.
Despite all the three-set matches that would take place in singles, the Cardinals only momentarily surrendered the momentum gained from doubles. The Demons recorded their lone point of the match at No. 5 singles, but that was as close to victory as Northwestern State could get.
The Cardinals responded to the setback by rattling off five unanswered points beginning with senior
Anna Spengler on court No. 2. The Essen, Germany native had little trouble getting past Northwestern State's Polina Ivanova, 6-3, 6-3, to give LU back the advantage.
Freshman
Jasmin Buchta extended that led with her 6-1, 7-5 victory over the Demons' Polina Mutel at line three singles. With the Cardinals staking claim to a 3-1 advantage, they only needed one more match to fall in their favor for the overall win, and that is when the run of three-set matches began to fall into place.
Despite senior
Katya Lapayeva locking up the overall team victory with her win at the No. 1 position, there was still plenty of suspense remaining in the match. Of the three remaining courts, only senior
Hanna Elfving won her opening set, which placed Lapayeva and freshman
Sanja Jolic in a position of battling back from an early deficit.
Despite the fact that Jolic won her match just a game into the third set because her opponent, Emilija Dancetovic, being forced to retire due to an injury, Lapayeva was the first two finish. She posted a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Iryna Vardanian.
That left Elfving as the only Cardinal still remaining on the court. Although Elfving allowed the match to be far more exciting than the fans or coaching staff wanted it to be after an opening set victory, she showed poise holding on for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win.
The Cardinals have very little time to enjoy the victory as they will be back in action Saturday against Sam Houston State. The match against the Bearkats will begin at 1 p.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
-LU CARDINALS-
