April 3, 2009

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Samford men's tennis team earned its second-straight road victory in Southern Conference play Friday as the Bulldogs tallied a 4-3 win against The Citadel Bulldogs at the Earle Tennis Center.

In its hard-fought triumph, Samford (6-11-1, 3-3-1 SoCon) swept all three of the doubles matches and then rallied for singles wins on courts No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6.

The Bulldogs' Carson Kadi clinched Friday's 4-3 victory with a thrilling 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over The Citadel's (8-9, 1-4 SoCon) Alberto Diaz in the No. 3 singles match. With the overall score of the contest knotted at 3-3, Kadi picked up his game-clinching victory to give Samford its second-straight win.

Kadi improved to 14-4 on the season and 9-2 when playing in the No. 3 singles position. The Bulldogs' true freshman from New Orleans, La., also picked up his seventh-consecutive victory.

Also earning key victories for Samford in singles play were Reynolds and Abalos. On court No. 5, Oliver Reynolds knocked off The Citadel's Derek Dickey 6-2, 6-3, while the Bulldogs' Carl Abalos fought to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Tripp Larkin. With his victory, Reynolds improved to 10-5 on the season.

Samford continued its stellar play in the doubles competition Friday.

On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' tandem of Brian Dushock and Kelwin DeWet earned an 8-5 win over Yufo Sutantion and Michael Kociecki, while Samford's Reynolds and Abalos topped The Citadel's combination of Martin King and Diaz, 8-6, on court No. 2.

The Bulldogs' doubles pair of Richard Walsh and Kadi knocked off The Citadel's duo comprised of Joshua Cook and Frederic Petrilli, 8-5.

The Samford men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 10 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs remain in Charleston, S.C., for a SoCon contest against the College of Charleston Cougars.