BEAUMONT, Texas – The 2022 Western Athletic Conference regular-season champions, and top seed in the WAC tournament, Lamar University men's tennis team (16-7/6-0 WAC) returns to action Saturday when they open the 2022 WAC Championships in Beaumont, Texas.
 
For the Cardinals, this has become routine under the direction of head coach Scott Shankles – despite the fact it's the first year the men's tennis team has been in this situation. If the previous statement has you confused then it accomplished its goal but it wasn't intended to confuse. Just for clarification, the Cardinals have won eight regular-season conference titles in program history – their third in the last six years, but this is the program's inaugural season in the WAC.
 
Picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll – due in large part to a roster boasting of seven freshman, one sophomore, one junior and just one senior – no one (other than the LU locker room) knew what to expect of the Cardinals in 2022. All LU did was post a 16-win season and go undefeated in conference play. The Cardinals had eight players earn All-WAC honors, including four first-team selections to go along with the WAC Freshman, Player (Daniel Sancho Arbizu) and Coach of the Year (Shankles).
 
If the Cardinals can pick up a win in the semifinal round, it would tie the win total of the 2016 and 2017 Back-to-Back Southland Conference Champion teams, which are the most wins by the Cardinals since Big Red posted a 19-win season in 1981.
 
Due to LU's regular-season title, the Cardinals earned the league's top seed and have received a bye to the semifinals. LU will take on the winner of No. 4 Grand Canyon and No. 5 UT Rio Grande Valley. LU's semifinal match is set to begin at 9 a.m.
 
The other half of the bracket has the second-seeded Abilene Christian Wildcats in the semifinals awaiting the winners of No. 6 Chicago State against third-seeded New Mexico State. The men's championships will kick off at 9 a.m. Friday. The Cardinals will take to the court beginning Saturday at 9 a.m., with the championship match slated for Sunday at 9 a.m. All matches will be played the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Complex in Beaumont.
 
Admission to the WAC Championships is free to the public.