Lamar sports information

NACOGDOCHES — For the first time in program history, the Lamar men’s tennis team has won the Southland Conference Tournament title, receiving the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

The Cardinals (17-5) earned a spot in the NCAA tournament with a 4-1 victory over No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday afternoon at the Schlief Tennis Complex.

It was the second-seeded Islanders who jumped out of the gates with all of the emotion and took a 1-0 lead. A&M-Corpus Christi took the first match of the day when Kevin Bettendroffer and Arthur Bedel stunned LU’s Benny Schweizer and Michael Feucht, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles. The Islanders closed out the point when they picked up a similar 6-2 decision on court 3.

Despite trailing 1-0, the Cardinals hit the reset button during the break and came out refocused to start singles. Big Red took early leads in four of the six singles matches, eventually claiming the first set in those four matches.

The Cardinals held the advantage in two of those matches as Schweizer gave the Cards its first point of the day. Schweizer recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Islanders’ Javier Pujol at No. 3 singles. Junior Nikita Lis gave Big Red its first lead moments later when he stepped off the court with a straight-sets win at court two. Lis ousted A&M-Corpus Christi’s Ricardo Mayagoitia, 6-4, 6-2.

After gaining the advantage, LU suffered a minor setback at No. 4 singles, as freshman Sebastian Santibanez dropped a heartbreaking opening set to Guillaume Rauseo, 7-6 (7-5). While Santibanez was busy fighting his way back into the match at the No. 4 spot, the rest of the team was inching LU toward the overall title.

Junior Juuso Laitinen put the Cardinals within a point of victory with his three-set win at No. 6. Laitinen took the first set, 6-4, but dropped the second in a tiebreaker to set up a decisive third. In the final set, Laitinen was not to be denied putting his opponent away, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.

With Laitinen’s victory in hand, Big Red needed only one of the remaining three matches to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships. That final victory would come from junior Jeandre Hoogenboezem at No. 5 singles. Hoogenboezem took the first set, 6-2, but the Islanders’ Paul Cook didn’t go away quietly. Cook rallied for a 6-3 decision in the second set. Hoogenboezem settled down in the third to take the set, match and team title with his 6-3 victory.

The NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship selection show will be aired on NCAA.com Tuesday, May 3, beginning at 4:30 p.m.