THIBODAUX, La. – Lamar University raced out to a commanding lead and never looked back defeating Nicholls, 6-1, Friday afternoon at the Nicholls Tennis Complex. The victory handed LU a men's and women's tennis doubleheader sweep over the Colonels Friday.
 
Big Red took the doubles point with victories at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles and had match point on court three before it was halted. Freshman Ana Jolic was the first player off the court in singles, and she extended the Cardinals' lead. Jolic bested Nikita Pinto, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 5 singles.
 
Moments later, classmate Alba Perez handed the Cardinals a commanding lead when she knocked off the Colonels' Nuria Martin Lopez with a 6-1, 6-3 decision at No. 3. Perez's victory meant one thing, that LU needed just one more victory to take the team match and they had four matches remaining to get it done.
 
It didn't take long for the Cardinals to get that magic fourth victory. LU turned to the bottom part of the lineup for the win. Freshman Emmeline Polevoi got a quick straight-sets victory over Nicholls' Morgan Forshag, 6-0, 6-2.
 
With the pressure off, the Cardinals tacked on singles wins from freshman Elena Rodriguez and junior Natalia Garcia Molina before Nicholls finally got on the scoreboard in the last remaining match.
 
The Cardinals will be in New Orleans Sunday for the conference finale against UNO. The match against the Privateers will begin at 11 a.m.