BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University got its homestand off to a strong start Friday defeating Oral Roberts, 6-1, to improve to 8-6 on the season. The match was tight all the way through doubles but  the Cardinals pulled out a hard-fought tiebreak decision on court 3 to take the point LU never looked back.
 
After the two teams split the first two doubles matches of the day, all eyes were focused on line 3. The duo of Guy Dagan and Santiago Ledesma were pushed down to the wire by ORU's Aaron Brewer and Ryan Holloway but the Cardinals young duo prevailed 7-6 (7-3).
 
Lamar didn't let off the accelerator after the switch to singles play. Freshman Louis Drapeau gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead with his straight-sets victory over Jonathan Evans. Moments later, sophomore Leon Nickel made it a 3-0 advantage with his victory on court 1. Nickel's winner put Big Red in a position of needing just one more victory – with four courts remaining – to pick up the overall win.
 
The Cardinals wouldn't have to wait long as freshman Lukas Hamacher defeated the Golden Eagles' Lucas Couy, 6-3, 6-4, for the fourth and deciding point. Lamar closed out the day taking two of the remaining three matches for the final score.
 
Lamar returns to action Wednesday when they host St. Mary's (TX). The match against the Rattlers will begin at 2 p.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.