THIBODAUX, La. – Lamar University dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision at Nicholls Sunday afternoon falling to 6-16 (.273) on the season and 1-2 (.333) in Southland Conference play.
 
"We had our chances in both doubles and singles but we couldn't finish them off," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "We held early break leads in both doubles matches only to lose in a tiebreaker on court No. 1 to lose the point. In singles we came out strong and won the first set on every court, but just like in doubles we couldn't finish them off.
 
Dropping a hard-fought doubles point following a tiebreaking setback at No. 1 doubles, the Cardinals were able to put that behind them to open singles play. Big Red came out and won the first set on every singles court, but unfortunately three of those courts went to a third set and the Colonels won all three of those matches.
 
The Cardinals were able to tie the match up at 1 when junior Brock Lauer cruised past Moritz Borges, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. Big Red took its first lead of the day when sophomore Carlos Paton Canal followed with his straight-sets victory over Tobias Lentz. Paton Canal posted a score of 6-2 in the opening set and held off Lentz by a score of 7-6 (7-5) in the second.
 
Nicholls battled back to reclaim the lead with consecutive victories on courts 1 and 4. That placed the overall outcome of the match on court 3. Sophomore Arthur Serafim took the early lead after an opening-set victory, 6-4, over Eduardo Moreno. Unfortunately, Moreno was able to take the final two sets for the victory.
 
"Nicholls played tough when their backs were against the wall and they deserved the win," said Shankles. "It's a quick turnaround as we play Incarnate Word tomorrow for Senior Day. The guys will be up for this challenge."
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Monday when they return home to host UIW. The match against the Cardinals will begin at 3 p.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.