BEAUMONT, Texas – After having their 2020 season cut short, the Lamar University women's tennis team eagerly awaited the 2021 season opener, and unfortunately for the Red and White, Mother Nature made them wait just a little bit longer to get the year under way. The Cardinals were slated to open the year with a doubleheader beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday but due to rain in the area the Cardinals didn't get to take the court until 2 p.m. The Cardinals rewarded the fans for their patience with a 7-0 victory over Prairie View A&M.
 
Due to the delay in the getting the first match played, the two teams agreed to cancel the second match of the scheduled doubleheader.
 
Despite the dominate final score, the match was very tense in doubles competition. After the Cardinals took the opening match on court two, Prairie View A&M bounced right back to even things up at the No. 1 spot. The doubles point came down to court No. 3, in a match that saw LU's Jayci Wong and Michelle Markovic rally from a 5-4 deficit. After tying the match at five, the LU duo dropped the next game but battled back to force a tiebreak. The Cardinals eventually broke through with a 7-6 decision in the extra frame.
 
The Cardinals carried that momentum over to the singles courts where they managed to survive three marathon matches. After junior Natalia Garcia Molina gave the Cards' a 2-0 lead with her victory at No. 2 singles, LU had three of their next five matches go to a third set (courts 1, 3 and 4). On all three courts, the Cardinals came out victorious starting with freshman Elena Rodriguez. Classmate Ana Jolic and senior Bianca Vitale picked up the other two three-set wins.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action Friday when they travel to Edinburg, Texas to take on UT Rio Grande Valley. The match against the Vaqueros will begin at 1 p.m.