Box Score BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University's women's tennis team put up a strong performance Sunday evening at Houston but came up short, 5-1, at the Lifetime Fitness Club at the Galleria. The match time and venue were moved from the original schedule due to the weather and the two teams elected to start with singles competition first and play doubles only if necessary.
 
The Cardinals (0-2) scored a point from Milena Belianovich at No. 6 singles in a hard fought three-set match.
 
"I'm very proud of this team," said LU head coach David Wong. "This is a very young squad and we opened the year against two very tough opponents but they didn't play scared at all. We made some mistakes but kept battling. We now have two weeks to review what we did this weekend and improve on it before we return to action."
 
The Cougars got on the scoreboard first with a victory at No. 3 singles when LU's Amelie Vossgaetter was forced to retire from the match. UH added to its advantage with a straight-set victory at No. 2 singles.
 
Houston tacked on another point at No. 4 singles to take a 3-0 lead needing just one more victory to take the team decision. LU tried to fight back at No. 1 singles as sophomore Jasmin Buchta forced a three-setter. Buchta defeated Houston's Tsveta Dimitorva, 6-2, in the opening set, but Dimitrova battled back to win the second set by the same score. Unfortunately, Buchta came up short in the second set with a 6-3 decision.
 
"It was a very tough afternoon for Jasmin," said Wong. "She played so well and really dominated her match but had a couple missed shots late in the match and that really seemed to turn the momentum in Houston's favor."
 
The Cougars took the victory on court five before LU cracked the scoreboard at the No. 6 spot. Belianovich won her opening set over Houston's Ana Glumac, 6-4, to take all the momentum into the second set. Belianovich came up short in the second but battled right back in the super tiebreak to post a 10-7 decision for the victory.
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday, Feb. 10 when the host Alcorn State in a doubleheader. The first match will begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by the second match at 1 p.m.
 
-LU CARDINALS-