WEST POINT, N.Y. – Lamar University got its trip to New York off to a strong start Saturday by defeating Marist, 4-2. The match against the Red Foxes was a late add to the trip which now has Lamar playing five matches in a four-day span with the final contest coming across the state border in New Jersey Tuesday.
 
Big Red struck first with doubles victories on courts 1 and 2 for the first point of the match, but only after Marist got a victory on court 3. Lamar had to battle every step of the way for the point as the duo of junior Leon Nickel and sophomore Maxwell Lindstedt were forced to a tibreaker to defeat Marist's Thomas Bevan and Nick Suhanitski, 7-6 (7-0).
 
The victory on court one was pivotal as it appeared court 2 was headed to a tiebreak as well, but the freshman team of Vicente Monge and Rintaro Shukuda pulled out the victory in the 12^th game over Marist second-rated duo.
 
Big Red continued to press the advantage in the transition to singles. Nickel put up Lamar's second point of the day with a straight-sets victory over Alejandro Abella Fernandez at line 1, 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Louis Drapeau followed suit moments later posting a straight-sets victory over Dante' Despontin, 6-1, 6-2.
 
With Drapeau's victory in tow, the Cardinals needed just one more win to take the overall team decision. Lamar would have to put a pause on any celebration as the Red Foxes tried to claw their way back into the match with victories at Nos. 4 and 3 singles, respectively, but Lamar would eventually prevail.
 
The deciding point would come from Monge at No. 6 in thrilling fashion. After taking the first set, Monge was forced to a third, but held on for the 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 decision over Marist's Brandon Ramos.
 
Lamar will return to action Sunday against Army (8 a.m.) followed by a contest against Hofstra. The match against Hofstra was originally slated for Saturday but has been pushed to Sunday afternoon – start time has not been finalized yet.