No. 1 Lamar Cardinals Claim 2016 Southland Men’s Tennis Tournament Championship
Southland Conference
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Top-seeded Lamar (17-5) won its first Southland Men's Tennis Tournament title with a 4-1 win over defending tournament champion No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (16-9) Sunday morning at the Schlief Tennis Center in Nacogdoches, Texas.
A&M-Corpus Christi got wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to clinch the doubles point as the Islanders duo of Kevin Bettendroffer and Arthur Bedel earned a 6-2 victory over Lamar’s Benny Schweizer and Southland Player of the Year Michael Feucht at the top spot while the No. 3 pair of Ricardo Mayagoitia and Javier Pujol topped the Cardinals netters Juuso Laitinen and Sebastian Santibanez 6-2 to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
The singles action was all Lamar as the Cardinals claimed singles wins at the number No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 positions before clinching the match with a win at No. 5. Lamar netter Nikita Lis defeated Mayagoitia 6-4, 6-2 at the second spot just while Schweizer beat A&M-Corpus Christi’s Pujol 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3. Lamar’s Laitinen defeated Carlos Pedrosa at the sixth flight before Jeandre Hoogenboezem clinched the match for the Cardinals with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Islanders netter Paul Cook. Feucht and Santibanez were leading as the Cardinals clinched the doubles point.
The Cardinals are a perfect 7-0 against conference opponents this season. This is the school’s first men’s tennis tournament championship and the third consecutive year to meet the Islanders in the championship match.
With the tournament win Lamar receives the Southland's automatic bid into the NCAA championship. The selection show for the 2016 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship will take place next Tuesday, May 3 at 5:30 p.m. CST and can be watched live on NCAA.com. First and second round NCAA competition will be held at regional sites on campuses around the nation, with 16 men's teams advancing to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the NCAA championship hosted by Tulsa May 19-30.
For more information regarding results, records and more please visit Southland.org.