BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University proved its ability to play through adversity to defeat UT Rio Grande Valley, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the Thompon Family Tennis Center. The victory was Lamar's second consecutive Southland win and improves Lamar to 9-7 overall and 2-4 in conference play.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a strong start sweeping all three doubles matches. The team of Lera Zaginayko and Martina Alcaino defeated UTRGV's Barbara Martinez and Yaiza Vazquez, 6-3, at No. 2 doubles for the first win of the day followed by Luana Paiva and Asta Miettinen defeating Luna Buijtenhuijsa and Rhea Makesar, 6-2 (at No. 1 doubles) for the point.
 
LU's No. 3 team of Arina Gudovskaya and Eva Gumenyuk also recorded a win in a tiebreak, 7-6 (7-4), over Hitakamya Narwal and Mariia Bakhtina.
 
The one-point lead ballooned to a 3-0 advantage following wins by Gudovskaya at No. 1 singles (def. Barbara Martinez, 6-0, 6-3) and Luana Paiva's 6-0, 6-2 victory over Yaiza Vazquez at No. 2 singles.
 
The Cardinals were one step from victory before UTRGV began to battle back. The Vaqueros picked up consecutive wins on courts 5, 6, 4 respectively to tie the match at 3, but their momentum and the rally came to an end seconds later.
 
Just moments after the Vaqueros tied the match, Miettinen powered her way through a tough three-set match to put away Narwal, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, for the individual and team victory.
 
The Cardinals return to action Monday when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The match against the Islanders will begin at 11 a.m. from the Thompson Family Tennis Center.