EDINGBURG, Texas – Less than 24 hours after stepping on the court to face UT Rio Grande Valley, the Lamar University women's tennis team was back it again Saturday morning to take on Tarleton State. Unfortunately, the quick turnaround was too much as the Cardinals dropped a 6-1 decision to Tarleton.
 
"I thought we fought really hard today in all the matches," said head coach David Wong. "We made some not smart decisions at certain key parts of the match. It was a windy day today for both teams and I hope we can turn this around on Monday against McNeese."
 
Tarleton took the opening lead of the match with their two wins on the doubles courts. The Cardinals picked up a 7-5 decision on court two from freshmen Elena Rodriguez and Alba Perez, but the TexAnns already had the point locked up when LU recorded up its victory.
 
The Cardinals attempted to flip the momentum in singles play by forcing two matches – courts one and four – to third sets. On court one, senior Bianca Vitale won the opening set, but couldn't close out the match in the second. She responded in a strong way in the third putting the match away quickly. She defeated Tarleton State's Mihaela Codranu, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
 
Unfortunately for the Red and White, the Cardinals were unable to flip the match on court 4. Tarleton State rallied to take the remaining courts for the overall final score.
 
The Cardinals will now have 48 hours to prepare for their next match against McNeese. The contest against the Cowgirls will be considered a non-conference contest (as LU and McNeese will square off in league play later this year). The match against the Cowgirls is slated for a 1 p.m. start from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.