BEAUMONT, Texas – In a contest that was eerily similar to their quarterfinal victory, the Lamar University women's tennis team defeated third-seeded Abilene Christian Sunday afternoon to advance to Monday's Southland Conference Championship match. The Cardinals defeated ACU, 4-3, in a contest that lasted nearly four hours, and just like Saturday, it came down to the contest at No. 1 singles, and again it was senior Bianca Vitale coming up with the final win to help LU advance.
 
"I'm so very proud of this team," said LU head coach David Wong. "The amount of fight this team has showed the past two days has been incredible. Things get tough on them, but they refuse to quit, a call goes against them they dig down and play harder, someone goes down with an injury everyone else steps in to pick up the slack. This was a very hard fought match against a very tough and talented Abilene Christian squad."
 
The Wildcats took the opening match of the day, but like they have done so many times in the conference tournament Big Red responded immediately. LU took a decisive victory at No. 2 doubles throwing all focus on freshmen Jayci Wong and Ana Jolic on court 3. The freshmen duo looked more like savvy veterans as they pushed their match to a tiebreak and then slammed the door shut with a 7-2 decision in the extra frame.
 
LU pushed its lead to 2-0 following another freshman – Elena Rodriguez – who came through on court 2. Rodriguez ousted ACU's Maryjoe Crisologo, 6-3, 6-4, to give the Red and White a 2-0 advantage.
 
The Wildcats proved the deficit was not insurmountable as they rallied for wins on courts 6, 5 and 3 to take their first lead of the match (one of ACU's wins came by a retirement). With the Wildcats leading, 3-2, they needed only one win on the remaining two courts to advance to the championship – it was a victory that would never come.
 
The two remaining courts – Nos. 1 and 4 singles – were headed to a third set. The match at No.
 4 singles was the first to finish. Senior Natalia Garcia Molina outlasted the Wildcats' Ileana Mocciola, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, at No. 4 to pull the Cards even at 3.
 
For the second time in the last 24 hours, all the focus turned to No. 1 singles, and just like Saturday, it was another marathon match for Vitale. After dropping the first set, 6-1, Vitale found new life in the second with a 6-3 victory to force a third. With a new lease on life, Vitale didn't let the opportunity pass putting ACU's Nini Memishishi away, 7-5, in the third.
 
The victory catapults LU into the Southland Championship match against fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The match against the Islanders will begin at 2 p.m. from the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center. Admission to the match is free.