BATON ROUGE, La. – It was a tough afternoon for the Lamar University men's tennis team on the opening day of the LSU Invite Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. The Cardinals opened the day with tournament-host LSU but dropped a 4-0 decision. The Cardinals came back in the second match of the afternoon and face Southland foe New Orleans in a non-conference match. LU dropped a heartbreaker to the Privateers, 4-3, in a match where the Cards had a chance to win in singles competition.
 
"This was a fun match to play even though the result is not what we were looking for," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "Our young team needed to gain experience in a tough collegiate match and that is what happened this afternoon. New Orleans is an improved team playing with energy. We will take this with us and rebound tomorrow morning."
 
The Cardinals were tough at the top of the order in the second match of the afternoon. Big Red got wins from freshman Axel Vila Antuna and sophomore Nicolas Mayr. Antuna recorded a straight-sets victory over UNO's Mats Westkamp at the No. 1 position with identical scores of 6-4. Mayr was just as tough at the second spot with a straight-sets decision. He defeated the Privateers' Mikhail Fominkov, 6-2, 6-4.
 
UNO answered back with victories at No. 3 singles and a hard-fought three-setter on court No. 6. LU sophomore Carlos Paton Canal put the Red and White back out in front at No. 4 singles with another straight-sets decision.
 
While Paton Canal put LU back in front momentarily, classmate Arthur Serafim was trying to lock up the overall victory at the fifth position. After dropping the first set, Serafim battled back in the second to force a third set. He was put in a position of having to fight back again in the third set trailing, 6-5, but won the 12^th game to force the tiebreak.
 
The tiebreaker was a back-and-forth affair that saw both players take the lead. UNO's Nick Kramer went up 7-6 and had the opportunity to tie the match and force doubles play but Serafim fought back again to win the next point. Unfortunately, Serafim could get no closer dropping a 7-6 (9-7) decision in the third set.
 
The Cardinals came up short in the doubles competition. Big Red dropped matches at the Nos. 1 and 3 doubles positions to surrender the point.
 
It was a tough start to the day for the Red and White. The Cards opened the tournament against tournament-host LSU. The Tigers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with victories at Nos. 6 and 5 singles respectively, and never looked back.
 
"LSU is a solid team," said Shankles. "They played well this morning winning some big points when it really counted. We competed hard despite some of the scores but it's all a learning experience for our young team."
 
The Cardinals return to action Sunday when they close out the LSU Invite Sunday morning against the loser of the Nicholls/UL Lafayette match. The match is slated to begin at noon from the LSU Tennis Complex.