BEAUMONT, Texas – After taking a match off from Southland Conference action to take on in-state rival, Rice, the Lamar University Cardinals return to league play Thursday when they travel to Abilene, Texas to face Abilene Christian. Thursday's match will be between two of the three remaining undefeated Southland teams (Incarnate Word is the third).
 
The Cardinals (6-14/1-0 SLC) have split their past two decisions coming off a 4-1 set back to Rice. The match against the Owls was a frustrating one from the standpoint it consisted of a 30-minute rain delay, followed by a venue change and then being forced to finish the day on just two covered courts. By the time the final point was scored, the match was nearly six hours long.
 
Prior to the weather-delayed match against Rice, the Cardinals were riding the momentum of a 4-3 victory over New Orleans. Avenging an earlier season loss to the Privateers, the Cardinals staved off a second defeat to UNO by taking victories at Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5 singles for the team victory. Just as special as the win, was how the Cardinals picked up the victory. Trailing 3-2 with two matches remaining, the Cardinals had to take the final two singles courts (courts 4 and 5). After sophomore Arthur Serafim picked up a straight-sets decision at No. 4 it was all up to freshman Joshua Taylor at No. 5.
 
The native of Manchester, England, battled back from a second-set loss to reclaim the momentum over UNO's Nicolas Kramer in the third. Taylor gained an advantage in the final set and rode that to a 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-4 victory.
 
Big Red enters the week in a two-way tie for second place in the league standings, just a half game back of Abilene Christian, but the separation in the standings comes in the win column as both teams enter the week undefeated. The Wildcats (16-4/2-0 SLC) are off to one of their best starts in program history.
 
ACU owns the league's best overall record and has won two straight and 11 of its last 12 contests. The lone setback during that stretch was a five-point decision at Florida State.
 
Thursday's match will begin at 11:44 a.m. from Abilene. The Cardinals will be looking to hand ACU its first home loss of the season (4-0), while Big Red is 2-6 (.250) in road matches in 2019.