BEAUMONT, Texas – One of only two remaining undefeated teams in the Southland Conference, the Lamar University Cardinals will put their perfect 3-0 record on the line Friday when they travel to Thibodaux, La. to take on Nicholls State. The match against the Colonels is one of only two remaining matches in the 2017 regular season.
 
The Cardinals (14-6/3-0 SLC) will be in the Southland Conference tournament – which will take place later this month at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center – the only question that still remains is tournament seeding. Big Red is the hunt for the Southland regular-season title and the No. 1 overall seed.
 
At this time last year, the Cardinals were going in search of their first conference title in 40 years. This time around, LU is looking to do something else it hasn't done since 1976 – win back-to-back Southland titles, but before fans can begin to think of celebrations and raising banners, the Cardinals have two big obstacles in front of the them – Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
The first of those obstacles will take place Friday at 1 p.m. from the Colonel Tennis Complex on the Nicholls campus. The Colonels enter the week looking to climb the Southland ladder with a 5-9 (.357) overall record, still looking for their first league victory (0-4). Nicholls has dropped consecutive matches and six of its last seven, with the lone victory during that stretch coming against Alcorn State. The match against LU will serve as the Colonels' final match before the Southland championships.
 
Big Red appears to be heating up at just the right time. Led by reigning Southland Player of the Week Michael Feucht, the Cards have won five straight and eight of their last night. LU is coming off an impressive three-point decision at Abilene Christian.
 
Feucht is just one of several Cardinals who have been recognized by the conference for their exploits on the court. LU has won four of the last five Southland Player of the Week honors. Feucht joins a group that includes classmates Nikita Lis (who won it two weeks in a row) and Jeandre Hoogenboezem.
 
Following the match at Nicholls, the Cardinals will have a week to prepare for its regular-season finale against rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. If both teams win this week (Islanders travels to Abilene Christian) it will set up a rematch of last year's season finale of which both teams entered the match undefeated playing for the conference championship.
 
The Southland Conference Championships will begin Saturday, April 29^th in Beaumont, Texas. The championship match will take place Sunday. All tournament matches will be played at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Courts.
 
-LU CARDINALS-