BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's tennis team kicked the Southland Conference Championship tournament off in victorious fashion Friday shutting out No. 7 seed Sam Houston State, 4-0. The Cardinals (17-7) exacted a small bit of revenge against SHSU who defeated LU in Beaumont earlier this season.
"I thought today was a very tough match, but we found a way to pull it out," said LU head coach
David Wong. "You have to give a lot of credit to Sam Houston State because the team score is not indicative of how tough each individual match was. We have a lot of respect for Sam Houston.
"Our girls played hard in all phases of the match playing to the end of every point in every game. Our main focus now is getting ready for tomorrow's match," added Wong.
After a highly contested doubles point that came down to the final match, the Cardinals took a slim 1-0 lead over SHSU. The Cards got a win from senior
Talisa Merchiers and junior
Stephanie Marchena at No. 3 doubles, which was key because SHSU bounced back with a win on court No. 1. Sam Houston's victory left the doubles point squarely on the shoulders of No. 2 doubles.
Freshman
Jasmin Buchta and senior
Hanna Elfving handled the pressure with little issue. The LU tandem jumped out to a lead and kept Sam Houston's Fabienne Gettwart and Khee Yen Wee at arm's length recording a 6-3 victory.
Big Red took the momentum from doubles and never looked back. The Cardinals won the first set on five of the six singles courts. No. 1 singles was the only court where LU was unable to grab the early upper hand, but senior Katy Lapayeva forced the match to a third set allowing her teammates to pick up the slack.
Merchiers gave the Cards a 2-0 lead with her straight sets victory at No. 5 singles. She recorded 6-2, 6-2, victory over the Bearkats' Caitlyn Mitchell.
Buchta put the pressure on SHSU with her win at No. 3 singles. Buchta recorded a 6-3 victory in the opening set, but was forced to battle in the second. SHSU's Carrie Casey pulled to within a game, 6-5, before Buchta took the 12th game to win, 6-3, 7-5, and give LU the 3-0 advantage.
Senior
Anna Spengler put the match away with her straight-sets victory at No. 2 singles. She defeated Sam Houston's Wee, 6-4, 6-4, to close out the scoring.
The Cardinals return to action Saturday at 2 p.m. to face No. 3 Central Arkansas who advanced to the semifinals by defeating Northwestern State. Saturday's match will be played at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center, and admission to the tournament is free.
-LU CARDINALS-
