LUBBOCK, Texas – Lamar University's tough schedule to open the 2019 season continued Sunday afternoon as Big Red squared off against Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Red Raiders were too strong pulling off the 7-0 victory in front of their home fans.
 
"A much better start to most matches played today," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "We were close in doubles again but fell a little short. In singles, I felt like we competed better which lends to some close matches. I believe this weekend will help us a lot going into a tough tournament next weekend at LSU.
 
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Masi and his Texas Tech team. They are a high-level team that will do really well this year," added Shankles.
 
Despite the final score, the Cardinals took several sets down to the wire but couldn't come up with the key play when it was needed. Texas Tech scored the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, which was unfortunate as the Cards had a one-game lead on court No. 1. The newcomers – Patrick Fleischhauer and Axel Vila Antuna – were leading Tech's Jackson Cobb and Tommy Mylmkov, 5-4, when play was stop due to Texas Tech's wins on the other two courts.
 
The Red Raiders pushed their lead to 3-0 with straight-set victories on courts 6 and 1, respectively. While the Red Raiders jumped out to a big lead, the Cards were trying to bounce back at No. 2 singles. Fleischhauer was heading to a third set at No. 2 singles.
 
Fleischhauer raced out to the early lead with a 7-5 victory in the opening set over Tech's Ilgiez Valiev. Although the second set was just as close as the first, Fleischhauer was edged in the second set, 6-4, to force a super tiebreak. In the end, Valiev proved too much taking the 10-8 decision.
 
Sophomore Arthur Serafim also put up a strong fight at No. 5 singles. After dropping the opening set, Serafim pushed Matheus Leite to a tiebreaker before Texas Tech was able to squeak out a victory.
 
The Cardinals return to Saturday when the travel to Baton Rouge, La., to compete in the LSU Invite. The tournament will be hosted on the LSU campus, but the Cards' opponents for the two-day event have not yet been determined.