Feb. 12, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
The Samford women's tennis team will resume play in its current four-match homestand Friday at 3 p.m., as the Bulldogs host the Georgia State Panthers in a non-conference duel to be held at the Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion.
Samford (0-1) heads into the match with aspirations of bouncing back from a hard-fought 4-2 loss against Memphis on Tuesday. In the nail-biting defeat, the Bulldogs' received both of their points in singles play as Taylor Morgan and Shannon Hartmann each tallied victories against their Tiger counterparts.
Morgan, Samford's talented sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., cruised to a straight-set victory over Marjorie Ondeck on court No. 1, 6-3, 6-2, while Hartmann outlasted Dara Toulch in the No. 4 singles match. Hartmann, a junior from Lexington, Ky., dropped the first set, 6-4, but then rallied to win the final two sets, 6-3, 6-1.
Georgia State (2-2) enters Friday's dual-match looking to put an end to its recent two-game slide.
After opening the 2009 spring season with consecutive wins against Georgia Southern 7-0 and Tulane 4-0, the Panthers have since dropped challenging road matches versus Alabama 4-3 and 26th-ranked Florida State 5-2.
In Georgia State's loss to Florida State, the Panthers won the doubles point and then picked up their second point as Diana Nakic won her fourth straight singles match by defeating FSU's Katie Rybakova 7-5, 6-0 on court No. 1.
Samford and Georgia State squared off in Atlanta, Ga., last season and the Bulldogs rallied for a 5-2 victory. In the win, Samford's Morgan was triumphant in her match at the No. 3 court with Kiara Powell, 6-4, 6-1, and Lindsey Mallory captured a straight-set win for the Bulldogs over Rachel Melina at the No. 4 position, 6-4, 6-3.
Following Friday's match against Georgia State, Samford will next be in action Wednesday at 2 p.m., as the Bulldogs continue their four-match homestand versus in-state rival Jacksonville State.
The contest will be held at Samford's state-of-the-art Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion.
