BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's tennis team is getting set for one of its toughest stretches of the season. The Cardinals will open a four-match road trip beginning Friday at Houston. The road trip will consist of dates at Houston, UL Monroe (Feb. 7), Oral Roberts (Feb. 13) and Tulsa (Feb. 14).
 
The Cardinals have started strong winning three of their first four matches and coming off a thrilling non-conference victory over McNeese, 4-3, that saw the deciding match go to tiebreaks in all three sets.
 
The Cougars have started the year just as strong with a 4-1 (.800) overall record and have posted three straight wins heading into the Friday contest. Houston is coming off a 6-1 victory over Texas State.
 
Big Red enters the match looking for their first overall win against the Cougars. Houston leads the all-time series, 7-0, with a 6-0 record in the Bayou City. Friday's contest will be the first between the two schools since the 2019 season when UH recorded a 6-1 victory.
 
Friday's match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. from the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.
 
The Cardinals will be back in action two days later when they travel to Monroe, La., to take on the Warhawks. UL Monroe has had a rough start to the 2021 season having played just one of the originally schedule five matches prior to Sunday's contest. The Warhawks stepped on the court for the first time Tuesday dropping a 5-2 decision against Samford.
 
The Cardinals are two matches under .500 (8-10) all-time against UL Monroe, and that different has come in the previous 10 meetings where the Warhawks hold a 6-4 (.600) advantage. The Cardinals won the head-to-head competition last season posting a 6-1 decision in Beaumont and have won three of the last five contests.
 
Sunday's match will serve as the home opener for ULM and will begin at noon from Heard Stadium.