Box Score BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University's rally came up just short as the Cardinals fell to Texas-Arlington, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center in Beaumont, Texas.
 
"We came up against a solid Texas-Arlington team that played with confidence," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "I really though their experience showed in doubles this afternoon. If we can convert opportunities where we can close out a set or a match it would make a difference with this squad but we're not doing that yet. I'm disappointed in the results, but we tried our best and came up short."
 
After dropping the first doubles' match of the day, the Cardinals rallied on court No. 2 to even things up at one match a piece. The tandem of junior Sebastian Santibanez and freshman Arthur Serafim recorded a 6-3 decision over UTA's Sansidh Kommaraju and Eduard Simo. LU's court two victory placed the decision of the point on N. 3 doubles.
 
The freshman duo of Nicolas Mayr and Roy Stepanov appeared to be up to the task. Forcing the match into a tiebreaker, the score was pushed to 9-7 before the Mavericks' Enrique Pardo and Andre Russo stepped away with the victory.
 
The Mavericks held onto the momentum from doubles to build a 3-0 lead after wins at Nos. 1 and 3 singles, respectively, but the Cardinals had an answer. Big Red fought back with a win at No. 4, while forcing courts five and six to a third set.
 
Serafim dominated Russo at No. 4 singles for a 6-3, 6-2, decision to put the Cardinals on the scoreboard. LU appeared to be in good shape to win their second match of the afternoon on court six, after freshman Carlos Paton Canal defeated the Mavs' Eduard Simo, 6-1, in the opening set. Unfortunately, Simo rallied to win the second set pushing the match to a third.
 
While Canal and Mayr were playing in the third set, UTA picked up the fourth and deciding point on court No. 2. Pardo outlasted senior Benny Schweizer in the tiebreaker on the second set for the hard-fought, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) decision.
 
The Cardinals closed out the match with a victory on court No. 5. Mayr defeated UTA's Sansidh Kommaraju, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, at the No. 5 position.
 
The Cardinals return to action Monday, when they return to the Thompson Family Tennis Center to host Omaha. The match against the Mavericks will begin at 3 p.m.
 
-LU CARDINALS-