BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but a slow start in singles play wound up being costly as the Cardinals dropped a 4-1 decision to UT Arlington Sunday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.
 
"We did a great job in doubles today, but doubles and singles were two different things," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "In doubles, we were able to hold serve. On court three, we got a break up early and held that throughout the match. At Nos. 1 and 2, we kept holding until we got up a break at line 1 and clinched the point.
 
"However, in singles we fell behind on every court right from the beginning. We battled back to push three matches to a third set, but unfortunately the other courts finished in straight sets. Our guys kept battling today and working hard, but UTA played a great match," added Shankles.
 
Three of the six singles matches went to a third set Sunday, including two that saw LU hold leads in the final set but those two matches were halted when UTA recorded the decisive final point.
 
The Cardinals took the opening lead after another impressive performance in doubles. The team of juniors Carlos Paton Canal and Joshua Sundaram got the first win of the day with a 6-1 victory over the Mavericks Miguel Cabrera and Daichi Akiyoshi. The tandem of Nicolas Mayr and Axel Vila Antuna followed suit moments later with a 7-5 decision for the point.
 
Unfortunately, the momentum from doubles didn't translate onto the singles courts as UTA jumped out to early leads on all six courts. The Mavericks tied the match and took a one-point lead after victories on courts 6 and 3, respectively. Despite the rally, LU forced third sets on courts 1, 2 and 4 looking to reclaim the lead and lock up the victory.
 
With the Cardinals holding third-set leads on two of those courts, the Mavericks put the match away with a straight-sets decision at No. 5 singles followed by a third-set victory on court No. 2.
 
The Cardinals return to action Friday when they host Oral Roberts. The match against ORU will begin at 11 a.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.