Box Score EDINBURG, Texas – Lamar University fought hard but came up short against UT Rio Grande Valley Saturday afternoon in their first match in 11 days. The Vaqueros recorded the 5-2 decision Saturday dropping the Red and White to 1-6 (.143) on the season.
 
Although the Cardinals' youthful squad dropped the match, there were some bright spots from the freshman class. The Cardinals' two victories on the afternoon came from rookies who showed poise winning their matches in three sets.
 
UTRGV took the first lead of the match after taking victories on courts two and three doubles to win the point. The Vaqueros added to the lead when Clement Sarradin defeated LU's Lukas Grubelnig, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 6 singles.
 
The Vaqueros pushed their advantage to 3-0 with a straight-sets victory at No. 3 singles. The win on court three gave the hosts a three-point lead needing only one more decision for the overall team victory.
 
LU was looking to put up a road block at No. 1 singles as Logan Powell was locked in a tight battle with UTRGV's Koby Jansen. The first match went to a tiebreaker before being decided and unfortunately the Vaqueros' Jansen edged Powell, 7-6 (7-2) in the set. Jansen held the momentum in the second set to take the match for UTRGV, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
 
The Cardinals followed moments later with an impressive victory from freshman Arthur Serafim. The LU rookie posted a 2-6, 6-0, 6-1, decision over Dennis Boisseau for the Cardinals' first point of the match. The victory gave the Cardinals some momentum as LU split the final two singles matches.
 
After UTRGV took the win on court No. 4, freshman Carlos Paton closed out the match with a three-set victory over UTRGV's Zane Kohrs. Paton outlasted his opponent, 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 10-7, at No. 5 singles.    
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they travel to Albuquerque, N.M. to compete in the Mountain Pacific Invite. The invite will run through Sunday, Mar. 4^th.
 
-LU CARDINALS-