THIBODAUX, La. – Lamar University rallied from an early deficit and battled through five three-set matches in singles play to get past Nicholls, 4-3, Monday afternoon at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex.
 
The tennis match that quickly turned into a marathon saw the Cardinals improve to 8-7 overall and 1-4 in Southland Conference play. Among the five three-set matches, three of the courts went to a tiebreaker in the third and two courts had a set won in the 12^th game.
 
Nicholls jumped out to a quick start taking all three doubles matches for an early 1-0 lead, but the three wins did not translate into momentum. The Cardinals hit the reset button in the transition to singles placing Nicholls back on its heels. Sophomore Arina Gudovskaya won the first singles match over Nicholls' Paulina Villegas, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 1 position. Gudovskaya's victory set the tone for the rest of the day.
 
Junior Martina Alcaino handed Lamar its first lead of the day when she dispensed of Blanca Losada, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, at the No. 4 spot. The Colonels battled back to tie things up taking a victory at court five – the only straight sets victory of the day – but LU answered immediately with Luana Paiva at No. 2 singles — def. Aada Inna – 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.
 
With Paiva's victory in the books, Lamar need just one more win for the overall team victory with two courts remaining. Both courts (3 and 6) were headed to a third set. The Cardinals took the next one – six singles – to put an end to any remaining suspense. Freshman Eva Gumenyuk took down Nicholls' Amailie Grube Andersen, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 for the victory.
 
For the Cardinals to pick up the win, they had to do it with four three-set victories. Oddly, all four singles wins came after Lamar had dropped the opening set.
 
The Cardinals will look to make it two in a row Saturday when they host UT Rio Grande Valley. The match against the Vaqueros will begin at 1 p.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.