BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team powered its way to a 5-2 victory over Abilene Christian Sunday afternoon at the Thompson Family Tennis Center to remain tied for first (with New Mexico State) in the WAC standings.
 
The Cardinals (12-6/4-0 WAC) came out firing on all cylinders sweeping all three doubles matches. Even the one match that went right down to the wire – No. 3 doubles – saw the team of Martin Garcia-Ripoll and Josh Taylor dominate in the tiebreak winning the match, 7-6 (7-1).
 
The Cardinals never took their foot off the accelerator to open singles play. Big Red took five of the six first sets to creep closer to the overall victory. Oddly, the one first set victory ACU recorded happened to be the first singles match to finish allowing the Wildcats to tie the score at one, but that would be as close to victory as the visitors would get.
 
Freshman Max Amling and sophomore Brandon Do made it a 3-1 advantage when they rattled off straight-set victories in succession. That left three courts, of which the Cardinals needed only one victory to take the overall decision.
 
The two schools rotated victories in the second set to force a third on courts one and two. With the first two courts going the distance, Garcia-Ripoll took a 7-3 tiebreak decision at No. 4 to snag a one-set lead. Garcia-Ripoll never allowed his opponent back in the match as he took it in straight sets, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, over the Wildcats' Savan Chhabra.
 
The two schools rotated wins in the two remaining courts for the final score.
 
The Cardinals return to action Friday when they host Prairie View A&M in a doubleheader. The first match is slated to begin at 11 a.m., with the second scheduled for a 3 p.m. start. The matches will take place at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.