April 16, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team will begin play in its final road trip of the 2010 regular season Saturday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a Southern Conference duel to be held at the ASU Tennis Courts in Boone, N.C.

Samford (15-5, 7-1 SoCon) heads into the contest as one of the hottest teams in the conference. The Bulldogs are in the midst of a seven-match winning streak and have not been defeated since March 16 when they dropped a road decision against 70th-ranked North Florida. Samford has been victorious in nine of its previous 10 outings.

The Bulldogs are 3-3 in road matches this season, but have won their last two contests away from home. Two weeks ago, Samford earned a key SoCon weekend sweep with victories at UNC Greensboro and Elon.

Taylor Morgan, the Bulldogs' junior native of Jacksonville, Fla., enters this weekend's road trip as the reigning SoCon Player of the Week. In a pair of conference matches last week, Morgan turned in a perfect record in both singles and doubles play and finished with an unblemished 4-0 mark.

Morgan won two matches at the No. 1 singles position last week, posting a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Chattanooga's Jenna Nurik on Thursday. Morgan then topped Georgia Southen's Ali Beavers in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.

Teaming with Lindsey Mallory at the No. 1 doubles competition; the Samford pair topped Chattanooga's Nurik and Shaina Singh, 8-3. Morgan and Mallory also recorded an 8-1 victory over Georgia Southern's Ashley Hungerford and Melanie Rolle.

Morgan is now 12-6 in singles play this spring and boasts a 12-6 mark in doubles competition. Morgan's 12 victories at No. 1 singles is tied for the third best mark in the conference this spring.

The Bulldogs' Rebecca Kirven boasts the team's top singles record this season with a 15-4 mark. A native of Windermere, Fla., Kirven has won three straight matches and is 7-1 in SoCon play. Fellow sophomore Lindsey Mallory owns a perfect 8-0 record this conference season and is in the midst of a seven-match winning streak.

Appalachian State (9-12, 2-7 SoCon) heads into Saturday's matchup looking to bounce back from a 5-2 loss against Davidson on Sunday. With the defeat, the Mountaineers' record at home this season fell to 4-5.

Since March 5, Appalachian State has compiled a 3-9 mark, including a 2-7 mark against SoCon opponents. The Mountaineers' top singles players this season have been Ellie Linsell and Jennifer Ansari. Both players own identical 12-9 records this spring, while Linsell has competed on court No. 1 and Ansari has been playing at court No. 2.

Last season, Samford and Appalachian State squared off in Birmingham, Ala., and the Bulldogs rallied for a 5-2 SoCon victory held at the Samford Tennis Center.

Following Saturday's match, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 11 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs close out their regular-season schedule with a SoCon matchup against the Western Carolina Catamounts in Cullowhee, N.C.