Lamar Lifts Tournament Championship for Second Straight Season
Southland Conference
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BEAUMONT, Texas – For the second-straight season, Lamar claimed the Southland Tournament Championship over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the Cardinals took Sunday’s final 4-1 at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center in Beaumont, Texas.
Jeandre Hoogenboezem clinched the match for Lamar in a three-set thriller at No. 3 singles, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Lamar went ahead in singles early after taking the doubles point, claiming quick straight-set victories at the top two flights. Nikita Lis captured the first singles win for the Cardinals in 7-5, 6-2 fashion over the Islanders’ Cagatay Soke at the No. 2 flight. Just one minute later, Michael Feucht defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Kevin Bettendroffer 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 to put Lamar just one win away from becoming back-to-back champions.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was able to get back into the match with a win at court six from the hands of Gonzalo Achondo. The freshman from Chile took the first set 6-2 past Lamar’s Juuso Laitinen, but the second set took just a bit longer. With the score tied at six games each, the two played a tiebreaker that lasted 18 points to claim a victor, falling in favor of Achondo 10-8 and making the match 3-1.
It looked as if Sebastian Santibanez was going to get the job done for the Cardinals at No. 4 singles after winning the first set 6-2, but the Islanders’ Paul Cook battled back in the second set to win 7-5 and force the third. That turned the crowd’s eyes to court three where Hoogenboezem and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s William Mottet were in the middle of their third set.
Hoogenboezem found himself leading 5-1 en route to a 6-1 victory, but Mottet fought off the next two games to get back in the set 5-3. In the ninth game of the set, Hoogenboezem gave up the first point before winning the next four to claim the set, match and win for the defending tournament champions.
In doubles, the Cardinals had jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on court one. Hoogenboezem and Lis earned the first victory in doubles with a 6-2 win over Bettendroffer and Mottet in the top flight. Logan Powell and Laitinen found themselves behind 3-0 in the No. 3 slot but fought back to tie things up before winning 6-4 and sending the Cardinals into singles play with the 1-0 advantage.
Lamar will now await its fate for the NCAA Tournament. The men’s tournament announcement is scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.