BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University women's tennis team will close out the 2021 Southland Conference regular season (LU will have a non-conference home match against Houston on April 14^th to end the year) with matches at Nicholls and New Orleans.
 
The Cardinals (7-6/4-4 SLC) are currently sixth in the league, but are caught in a logjam in the standings. As team's approach the final stretch run, the Cardinals are just 2.5 games out of the fourth place. Winners in four of their last seven, the Cardinals enter the week looking to make a late season climb up the ladder to first secure a spot in the postseason tournament as well as improve that spot.
 
The Cardinals will kick off the weekend with a 2 p.m. match at Nicholls. The Colonels have fallen on hard times this season with a 4-14 (.222) overall record and 11^th in league play with a 1-8 (.111) mark. Nicholls has dropped seven straight since defeating UIW on Mar. 12^th.
 
Big Red has dominated the overall series posting a 16-7 (.696) mark, which includes an 8-3 (.727) record in Thibodaux. LU has won the previous four meetings in the series by a combined 24-4 score, but the two teams did not meet in last season's COVID-shortened campaign. Friday's contest is slated to begin at 2 p.m. from the Colonel Tennis Complex in Thibodaux.
 
The Cardinals will then travel to New Orleans Sunday for an 11 a.m. showdown against the Privateers. UNO is off to one of its best starts in program history with 10-2 (.833) overall record and currently tied for first in the league standings with an 8-1 (.889) record.
 
The Cardinals hold a slim 9-8 (.529) advantage in the overall series but have dropped two straight and four of the past five. The Cardinals are 2-3 (.400) all-time in matches played against the Privateers in New Orleans.
 
LU will close out the regular season Wednesday when they return home to host Houston – in a match that was originally scheduled to be played in early February but got postponed due to weather. The match against the Cougars will be played Wednesday, April 14^th at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.