BATON ROUGE, La. – It has been a tough start the 2019 season for the Lamar University Cardinals, but the young squad picked up their first victory of the season by ousting Nicholls, 4-2, on the final day of the LSU Invite in a non-conference match.
 
"I'm very proud of these guys for getting the win today," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "We have dealt with some adversity this weekend which shows how close this team is and how bad everybody wants to compete for Lamar.
 
"Getting the doubles point was huge, in addition to winning three first sets, to keep the pressure on Nicholls. In the end we closed out the matches we won in the first set by staying on Nicholls and never letting them back in the match. This is a confidence builder heading into our next match against UTSA," added Shankles.
 
The Cardinals stormed out to 1-0 lead with victories at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, but the momentum was short lived as Nicholls fought back to tie the match at the No. 6 singles position. The Cardinals reclaimed the lead when sophomore Nicolas Mayr outdueled the Colonels' Dylan Loru, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 2 singles.
 
After reclaiming the lead, freshman Joshua Taylor put the Cardinals in the driver's seat with a straight-sets victory over Nicholls' Nestor Giribet, 6-3, 6-3. The Colonels pulled back within one following their victory on court No. 4, but LU locked up the match when freshman Axel Vila Antuna recorded a straight-sets victory on court No. 1.
 
Big Red will open the home portion of its schedule Sunday, Feb. 10, when they host UTSA. The match against the Roadrunners will begin at noon from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.