BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's tennis team jumped out to a big lead over Stephen F. Austin Saturday afternoon and cruised to a Southland Conference opening victory, 6-1, but the day didn't come without some adversity for both squads.
 
The Southland opener was supposed to played at the Thompson Family Tennis Center on the LU campus, but shortly after the match got under way it was delayed due to rain. Mother Nature eventually forced a change of venue to the indoor courts at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center where play could finally be resumed. By day's end, the Red and White handled the adversity better than their guests.
 
"I thought our ladies played extremely well today," said LU head coach David Wong. "We focused on the process from start to finish and came out victorious. My hats off to Stephen F. Austin. They fought hard today and never gave up."
 
LU won a close doubles point that came down to the wire to take the first lead of the match. After SFA grabbed the first doubles match of the day, Big Red responded with wins at Nos. 3 and 1 doubles respectively to claim the advantage and steal all the momentum.
 
The rally in the doubles points rocked the Ladyjacks back on their heels, as LU sprinted out to opening set leads on five of the first six courts. The Cardinals turned those leads into points sparked by senior Anna Spengler's easy win over Vanesa Pardo at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-1.
 
Although senior Katya Lapayeva had to go to a third set before deciding the outcome she was the second player off the court. Lapayeva won a convincing 6-3 decision in the opening set, but allowed SFA's Denise Maxl to escape with a 7-5 victory in the second. Lapayeva didn't allow thoughts of a come-from-behind road win to get any larger as she slammed the door in the third set with a 6-0 victory.
 
Needing only one more individual court victory to take home the overall team win, the Cardinals had leads on two of the final three courts. LU got the decisive victory from freshman Jasmin Buchta at line three singles. She recorded a three-set winner over SFA's Lauren Hidalgo-Smith, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The Cardinals closed out the day with victories from Sanja Jolic on court five and Hanna Elfving at No. 6.
 
The lone Ladyjacks' victory came at No. 4 singles, but it was the last match to be decided.
 
The Cardinals will be back action Sunday when they return to the Thompson Family Tennis Center to host Northwestern State. The match against the Demons is slated to begin at noon.
 
-LU CARDINALS-