March 8, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Following an eight-day hiatus from competitive action, the Samford University men's tennis team will return to action Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the Mercer Bears in a nonconference showdown to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.

Samford (6-2) heads into the matchup looking to bounce back from a 5-2 loss against the College of Charleston on March 1. The Bulldogs' defeat was their first since Feb. 6 and snapped a six-match winning streak. Prior to falling to the College of Charleston, Samford had rattled off consecutive victories against Columbus State, University of New Orleans, Gadsden State, Jacksonville State, Belmont and Murray State.

Mercer (5-2) also enters Tuesday's contest with aspirations of rebounding from a tough loss. On Feb. 27, the Bears had their two-match winning streak snapped in a 5-2 setback at USC Upstate. The defeat occurred in Mercer's first Atlantic Sun matchup of the 2010 spring campaign.

Prior to their loss to USC Upstate, the Bears earned back-to-back victories against Jacksonville State and Florida A&M University.

Samford's top singles player this season has been Oliver Reynolds. The Bulldogs' junior from McDonough, Ga., is the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week and has been victorious in six-consecutive matches. Reynolds enters Tuesday's match with a near-perfect 6-1 record on the season.

Mercer boasts two players with unblemished 6-0 records. The Bears' Fernando Armendaris and Adam Hunt are both 6-0 in singles play. Armendaris plays primarily at the No. 3 singles position for Mercer, while Hunt has spent a majority of his time competing at the No. 6 singles spot.

Following Tuesday's nonconference matchup, the Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs resume SoCon play against the Elon Phoenix on the road in Elon, N.C.