BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team will close out the 2018 regular season with two Southland Conference matches at home this week as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Nicholls come to town. The Cardinals will host A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday followed by a match against the Colonels Thursday. Both matches will be played at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
The final week of the regular season will be about more than just honoring the Cardinals' class of 2018 – Big Red enters the final two matches fighting for their playoff lives. The two-time defending Southland Conference champions enter the 2018 campaign with a freshman dominated lineup, but despite that youth the Cardinals are still in the hunt for the postseason.
LU enters the week 7-12 (.368) on the season, and fourth in conference standings just a half match up on Thursday's opponent – Nicholls – for the final playoff spot. Big Red has won four of the past six matches, but the two setbacks have come during their last two outings (at Incarnate Word and UTSA).
The Cardinals are currently in a unique situation entering the final two matches. If LU wins its two contests, the Red and White could slide into the second seed if they defeat the Islanders by a score of 6-1, or greater. The Cardinals need to score at least five points against A&M-Corpus Christi to snag the third seed. Should LU fall to A&M-Corpus Christi, the Cards can still advance to the tournament with a win over Nicholls Thursday.
The match against A&M-Corpus Christi will serve as the team's senior day even though it is not the final match of the season. The Islanders come to Beaumont looking to lock up the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. A&M-Corpus Christi (18-8/3-1 SLC) has had a rollercoaster season winning 13 of its first 14 matches, before having some struggles during the middle of the year. The Islanders went through a stretch where they lost six of eight, which included four consecutive, but have since turned things around. The Islanders enter Wednesday having won three of four and coming off a 6-1 victory over Abilene Christian.
Wednesday's match against the Islanders will begin at 4 p.m., but fans wishing to see the Senior Day recognition should arrive at the Thompson Family Tennis Center by 3:30 p.m. The Cardinals' two seniors are Benny Schweizer and Logan Powell. Fans arriving for Wednesday's match will receive a free LU T-shirt while supplies last.
The Cardinals close out the regular season Thursday against Nicholls. The match was originally slated to be played a week earlier but was moved due to rain. Nicholls enters the final week in a similar situation to LU – fighting for a berth in the conference tournament. Nicholls (5-11/1-3 SLC) is looking to get back in the win column having dropped four of its last five outings, and even had a match canceled during that stretch. The lone win for the Colonels during that time was a 4-2 decision over Loyola (N.O.).
The match against the Colonels will begin at 2 p.m. Admission to all home tennis matches is free.
-LU CARDINALS-
