BEAUMONT, Texas – Senior Natalia Garcia Molina had to win a marathon three-set match, that went to a tiebreak in all three sets, but she prevailed to hand the Cardinals a 4-3 non-conference victory over McNeese Monday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center. The victory moves LU to 3-1 (.750) on the season, while McNeese falls to 0-5.
 
Monday's match up is exactly how a rivalry is supposed to be played out. Entering the match, the two teams had split the previous 10 meetings, with the Cowgirls having won five of the previous seven, but LU held the upper hand in the last two. The most recent version of the Battle of the Border on the tennis courts played right into that script.
 
After McNeese took the opening lead by scoring the doubles point, Big Red charged right back to take their first lead after wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles. McNeese responded with a win on court six to tie the match back up at 2, before sophomore Ana Jolic put the Cards in the driver's seat with her straight-sets victory at No. 5 singles.
 
Jolic's victory meant LU needed only one more win to lockup the overall team win, but the fans were forced to wait a long time for that to come. McNeese tied the match at three with its victory on court four which placed the spotlight solely on the third court.
 
Squaring off against McNeese's Carlotta Romito, neither player backed down. After falling behind 5-2 in the first set tiebreak, Garcia Molina battled all the way back only to get edged out, 13-11. The opening frame set the tone for the rest of the match, as Garcia Molina was able to take back momentum in the second set with a 7-0 tiebreak decision. In the third, it was an eerily similar start to the tiebreak as the first set. Garcia Molina fell behind 5-3 only to rally back to take the lead. In the third, there would be no letdown as Garcia Molina fought her way to the 6-7 (11-13), 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-5) victory.
 
The Cardinals return to action Friday when they travel to Houston to take on the Cougars. The match against Houston will begin at 1 p.m.