STILLWATER, Okla. – Lamar University head coach Scott Shankles couldn't have picked a tougher pair of teams for his Cardinals to open the season against than Bryant and No. 15 Oklahoma State. The Cardinals traveled to Stillwater, Okla., for the two matches but came up short. LU fell to Bryant, 5-2, in the opening match and dropped a 7-0 decision to the Cowboys. Both matches were played at the Greenwood Tennis Center on the OSU campus.
 
"These were two very tough teams that we played today," said Shankles. "They both played in the NCAA Championships last season and they both return quite a bit of talent from those teams. We got out to a good start in doubles against Bryant winning the point but couldn't carry that over to the start of singles.
 
"Axel was up a break in the third set and a break in the tiebreaker but we couldn't close it out. Filippo Salsini won a tough opening set in a tiebreak but came up just short in the third," added Shankles.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick start winning the doubles point after victories at Nos. 3 and 1 doubles, respectively. The team of freshman Blessing Benibo and sophomore Joshua Taylor delivered a convincing 6-3 decision over Jorge Isaias Ortiz-Garcia and Andrew Pregel. The Bulldogs briefly pulled even with a win on court two before LU clinched the point at the No. 1 spot. The team of junior Nicolas Mayr and sophomore Axel Vila Antuna defeated Bryant's Wilson Dong and Trent Massam, 7-5.
 
Unfortunately, the momentum gained from doubles play didn't carry over into the singles competition. The Cardinals dropped five of the six first sets with the lone opening-set victory coming from Salsini on court four in a tiebreaker.
 
Unfortunately, Salsini dropped his match in a third set, which was one of three matches to go to a third set Friday. Of those three matches the Cardinals could only pick up a victory on court No. 2. That win came from junior Carlos Paton Canal in what was a very odd match. After getting defeated 6-1 in the opening set, Paton Canal came back with a vengeance in the final two. He evened things up with a 6-1 decision over Massam in the second and shutout his opponent with a 6-0 victory in the third but the Cardinals could get no closer in the season opener.
 
Unfortunately, things didn't get any easier for the Cardinals in the second set as they squared off against the nation's 15^th-ranked team. The Cardinals dropped eight of the nine matches against the Cowboys with the match on court three halted at a 4-4 tie after the point had been awarded.
 
In addition to their national team rank, the Cowboys also entered the match with the nation's top-ranked doubles squad, and three singles players ranked among the nation's top 100.
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday, Jan. 25^th when they host SMU. The match against the Mustangs will begin at 11 a.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center and will serve as Big Red's home opener.