BEAUMONT, Texas – The two-time defending Southland Conference Champion Lamar University men's tennis team will open its NCAA tournament Friday against No. 7-seed Baylor. The match will begin at 1 p.m. from the Hurd Tennis Center.
 
The Cardinals (17-7) advanced to the NCAA Championship tournament for a second consecutive season by winning the 2017 Southland Conference tournament, defeating SLC co-champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the finals. While the Cardinals are making their second-straight appearance in the championships, Baylor (21-7) is making its 20^th consecutive appearance.
 
The Bears enter the postseason following a 4-2 loss to Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships. The Bears open the tournament having won eight of their last 12 outings, but has dropped four of its last five. Baylor's lone win during that stretch came at Texas on April 12.
 
Save for a stumble at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the regular-season finale – the team LU would rebound to defeat in the conference finals just a week later – the Cardinals have won two straight and eight of their past nine. The Cardinals enter Friday's showdown against Baylor posting its second-straight 17-win season. That is the best two-year stretch for the Cardinals since the 1980-81 season.
 
The Cardinals are familiar with their opening-round opponent having faced the Bears earlier this season. That matchup took place in Houston and saw BU walk away with a 6-1 decision.
 
The rest of the bracket consists of Cornell against Rice. The Big Red received an at-large bid from the Ivy League after tying for the regular-season title. Cornell is returning to the NCAA Championships for the first time since the 2011 season and is currently 21-3. The Owls earned an automatic bid after winning the Conference USA tournament. The Owls (23-7) are making a second-straight NCAA tournament appearance.
 
Cornell will take on Rice Friday morning at 10 a.m., prior to the Cardinals taking on Baylor. The winners of the two matches will square off Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
If the Cardinals can advance out of Waco, the Sweet 16 round will be Thursday, May 18 at 8 a.m. The match will take place between the winner of the four-team Baylor pod against the winner of the Texas pod (Tulane vs. Washington and Presbyterian vs. Texas).
 
-LU CARDINALS-