Feb. 13, 2004

Manuel Miletic and Rob Nunnery won two matches each Friday against cross-town rival Birmingham-Southern College, but the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize and lost a spirited match 4-3.

The Bulldogs (1-2) started off strong, winning the doubles point by virtue of an 8-2 win by their No. 1 team, sophomores James Bryce and Johnny Griffee. Miletic and Nunnery clinched the doubles point and a 1-0 lead in the match for Samford, combining for an 8-5 win at No. 3.

"All three of our doubles teams played well, and we got some momentum early with wins at No. 1 and No. 3," said coach Kemper Baker.

Singles play was another story, as the Bulldogs quickly fell behind 3-1 after losses by freshman Bradley Weaver at No. 6, Bryce at No. 3 and freshman Stuart Misner at No. 2.

"We fell behind early in singles, and the team could have folded," said Baker. "Instead, we really battled back to make this a great match."

Nunnery, Miletic and Griffee each played matches that stretched to three sets, at No. 4, No. 1 and No. 5 singles, respectively.

Freshman Rob Nunnery won two matches for the Bulldogs Friday.

Nunnery had the easiest go of it, winning the third set 6-2. Miletic had to battle back after losing the first set 2-6 and falling behind 2-5 in the third. Miletic stormed back to win 7-6 (7-4), ripping a back-hand winner down the line on match point.

"I am proud of the way the whole team hung tough today," said Baker, "and I'm especially proud of Manuel for his gutsy performance. He really grew as a player today, and I hope his confidence will remain high."

Griffee suffered a crueller fate in the clinching match. After winning the second set easily (6-2), he quickly fell behind 0-3 in the third. Griffee fought back to 4-5, but couldn't finish the job, falling 4-6 in the final set.

The Bulldogs will be off until Wednesday, when they host Wallace State at 3 p.m.

Doubles

No. 1 Bryce/Griffee (SAM) def. Melina/Ray (BSC) 8-2

No. 2 Turner/Engler (BSC) def. Misner/Jensen (SAM) 8-6

No. 3 Miletic/Nunnery (SAM) def. Baumgardner/Johnson (BSC) 8-5

Singles

No. 1 Manuel Miletic (SAM) def. Melina (BSC) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)

No. 2 Baumgardner (BSC) def. Stuart Misner (SAM) 6-3, 7-5

No. 3 Turner (BSC) def. James Bryce (SAM) 6-2, 6-2

No. 4 Rob Nunnery (SAM) def. Engler (BSC) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-2

No. 5 Johnson (BSC) def. Johnny Griffee (SAM) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4

No. 6 Ray (BSC) def. Bradley Weaver (SAM) 6-3, 6-1

Final Score: Birmingham-Southern College 4, Samford University 3