Feb. 23, 2011

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The 74th-ranked Samford University women's tennis team extended its season-opening winning streak to five-consecutive matches Wednesday as the Bulldogs registered a 7-0 victory against the UAB Blazers in an intra-city rivalry held at the Samford Tennis Center.

With the win, Samford (5-0) remained undefeated at home and improved to 3-0 when competing in Birmingham. The Bulldogs have dominated their opponents this season and have outscored the competition by a total of 32-3.

UAB (1-3) suffered its third straight loss Wednesday. After opening the 2011 campaign with a 6-0 victory against Belmont, the Blazers have dropped consecutive matches versus Central Florida, No. 70 North Florida and Samford.

The Bulldogs earned Wednesday's doubles point by winning two of the three matches in the competition to take an early 1-0 lead.

In the No. 2 doubles contest, Samford's combination of Rebecca Kirven and Andrie Meiring breezed to an 8-0 triumph, while the Bulldogs' pairing of Madelie Janse Van Rensburg and Jessica Diamond tallied an 8-2 victory on court No. 3. With their win, Samford's duo comprised of Janse Van Rensburg and Diamond improved to a perfect 3-0 record in doubles play this season.

The Bulldogs swept all six matches in singles play to earn its decisive 7-0 victory.

Samford's Taylor Morgan, Meiring, Janse Van Rensburg, Kristin Lewis and Lindsey Mallory all cruised to straight-set wins Wednesday, while Kirven came from behind to tally a momentous 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 decision against UAB's Brittany DeFelice in the No. 5 singles contest.

With their wins, the Bulldogs' Janse Van Rensburg and Lewis both improved to a perfect 5-0 record this season, while Kirven, Mallory and Meiring all moved to 4-1 in singles play.

The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs begin Southern Conference play with a road contest against the Elon Phoenix in Elon, N.C.