DENTON, Texas – Lamar University was unable to overcome a slow start at North Texas Saturday afternoon dropping a 6-1 decision to the Mean Green. UNT scored the first six points of the day before the Cardinals could get on the scoreboard dropping the Red and White to 0-2 on the young season.
 
The Cardinals went into the match shorthanded missing two normal starters from the singles lineup.
 
"We came into the day short two players, and that definitely hurt," said LU head coach David Wong. "Having said that, we can't use that as an excuse. When one player goes down it's an opportunity for someone else to step up. We just didn't get the job done."
 
North Texas scored the first point of the day on the doubles courts taking all three matches. The Mean Green added to their lead at No. 2 singles when Nidhi Surapaneni defeated Bianca Vitale in straight sets.
 
Despite the 2-0 advantage for the host team, the Cardinals were trying to fight back on courts 1, 3 and 5. All three courts were locked in close first sets. Unfortunately for the Red and White, North Texas took two of the three sets, including a tiebreaker on the first court. Sophomore Laura Sola Grau was able to wrestle an opening set victory away from Sophia Hummel.
 
UNT battled back to even things up on court No. 5, but Sola Grau didn't allow the second-set loss to break her focus. She battled right back for a 10-7 victory in the third set super tiebreak. Unfortunately, for the Cardinals the match had already been decided by that point.
 
The Cardinals return action Sunday when they travel to Dallas to take on Dallas Baptist University. The match against the Patriots will begin at 12:30 p.m. from the Patriot Tennis Pavilion.