BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University jumped out to an early lead and never looked back picking up their fourth consecutive victory with a 6-1 decision over Oral Roberts Friday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center. The Cardinals improved to 4-2 in 2019-20.

The Cardinals dropped just two of the nine matches played as they extended their win streak on the young season.
 
"All-in-all, I thought we played well across the board today against a very talented ORU team," said head coach David Wong. "We had some matches where we got an early lead and did the things we needed to put the match away. In other matches we fell behind and battled our way back and won."
 
The Cardinals picked up the doubles point after earning wins on courts one and two. After splitting the first two matches, the outcome of the point came down to line one doubles. The team of seniors Jasmin Buchta and Sanja Jolic were locked in a tough battle against ORU's Aliksandra Nahurska and Ivana Babic. The match would be forced to a tiebreaker only to see the Cards roll in the extra frame, 6-2.
 
The doubles match would be the first of two long matches for Buchta, who also played a three-setter in singles that came down to a third-set tiebreak.
 
The Cardinals appeared to be on their way to the victory after early straight-set wins on courts four and three, respectively. Junior Natalia Garcia Molina gave LU a 2-0 lead with her 6-4, 6-1 victory over Rai Sengupta at No. 4 singles. Not to be outdone, Jolic posted a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Rai Sengupta to give Big Red a 3-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals needed just one more victory to pick up the overall win and had several courts to look at for the final point. The remaining four courts were all headed to a third set. The Cardinals took early leads on two of those courts looking for the overall victory. The numbers swung even more in LU's favor when Buchta was fighting her way back in the match. After dropping the first set, 7-5, at line one singles, Buchta was simply dominant in the second, 6-0, to force a third set against the Golden Eagles' Nahurska. The final set didn't get out to a great start as Nahurska jumped out to a 3-0 advantage, but Buchta clawed her way back into the set tying it up at 3-3.
 
With Buchta stealing the momentum away from her opponent, freshman Denise Simonetti was locking up the overall with for the Cardinals. After dropping the first set, 7-5, Simonetti battled back to defeat ORU's Andrea Vasiljevic, 6-4, 6-3, in final two sets. Moments later Buchta wrapped up her match by completing the comeback with a 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (6-2) victory.
 
The two teams split the remaining two courts with LU picking up a win from junior Bianca Vitale at No. 2 singles.
 
The Cardinals return to action Sunday when they host Prairie View A&M in a doubleheader from the Thompson Family Tennis Center. The first match will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the second at 2 p.m.