ABILENE, Texas – Lamar University received a hard-fought three-set victory from junior Sanja Jolic at No. 3 singles but it was all the offense they could record against the Southland leading Abilene Christian Wildcats Friday afternoon in Abilene. The Wildcats held on to defeat LU, 6-1.
 
The Cardinals (6-11/3-5 SLC) headed to Abilene looking for their third consecutive conference victory but got turned away by ACU who picked up its seventh win in its last eight matches.
 
"It is a very frustrating day," said LU head coach David Wong. "We just never got into a consistent rhythm. The matches on courts 3 – 6 singles were all very close but we didn't take advantage of the opportunities in front of us. The Wildcats are a very good team and we knew this would be a tough match. There are lessons to be learned from today, and we can become a better team from this match."
 
The Wildcats took the doubles point by claiming victories on courts 1 and 2 doubles. The home team wasted very little time grabbing the advantage. It was unfortunate for the Red and White as LU held a slim lead at No. 3 when the match was halted.
 
Despite the fact that ACU took victories on the first four singles courts to finish, it was a tight contest right up to the last serve. The matches on Nos. 3 – 5 singles all went to a third set, while No. 6 singles finished with scores of 7-5 in both sets.
 
Jolic was one of two Cardinals to win her opening set Friday (Natalia Garcia Molina), posting a 6-3 victory over ACU's Autumn Bellow. The match was forced to a third set after Bellow won a tiebreaker in the second. Jolic battled back in the third set to claim the 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 victory for the Cardinals' lone point of the day. The Wildcats closed out the match by taking the final singles matches on court 5.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Sunday when they travel to San Antonio, Texas to take on the league's other Cardinals – Incarnate Word. The match against UIW is slated to begin at 11 a.m. from the UIW campus.