NATCHITOCHES, La. – Lamar University dropped a 5-2 decision at Northwestern State Wednesday afternoon to wrap up the Southland Conference portion of the schedule. Lamar will close out the regular season Saturday, April 11^th at 11 a.m. against UTSA.
 
The Cardinals put up a strong fight against the Demons who currently sit in second place of the Southland standings. NSU took all three doubles matches but not before the duo of Martina Alcaino and Savannah Bijlsma pushed Pika Doberlet and Lolita Hukasian to a tiebreak. Unfortunately, NSU's No. 2 duo escaped with a 7-6 (7-4) victory.
 
Lamar added two hard fought wins in singles play at courts 6 and 2, respectively, and both courts had the deciding set go to a tiebreak. Big Red got on the scoreboard at 6 singles when freshman Varvara Popadina defeated NSU's Lija Mumlek, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
 
Sophomore Luana Paiva was involved in the longest match of the day which saw her square off against Athina Grigoriadou at No. 2 singles. Paiva blasted her way out of the gates taking a huge early lead winning the first set, 6-1. Grigoriadou responded with a 6-2decision in the second. With the match tied at 1-1 following two blowout wins, it only made sense that the third set would be a tight contest that would go to an extra frame. In the tiebreak, however, Paiva did not allow her opponent a chance to recover. She took the lead and never looked back for the 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2) decision.
 
Lamar (9-10) now turns its attention to the Roadrunners for an 11 a.m. match. The match against UTSA will serve as the 2026 regular-season finale.