March 22, 2011

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University men's tennis team had its four-match winning streak snapped Tuesday as the Bulldogs dropped a hard-fought 5-2 loss against the 72nd-ranked Elon Phoenix in a Southern Conference showdown held at the Samford Tennis Center.

With the defeat, Samford (11-4, 1-2 SoCon) suffered its first setback since a similar 5-2 conference loss to UNC Greensboro on March 10. Prior to Tuesday's result, the Bulldogs had tallied consecutive victories against Murray State 7-0, Saint Leo 8-1, Florida Gulf Coast 7-0 and The Citadel 6-1.

Samford moved to 9-3 when playing at home this season and will begin a key two-match SoCon road trip Saturday against Davidson.

Elon (9-5, 3-0 SoCon) remained undefeated in conference play this season and earned its third straight victory. Heading into Tuesday's contest, the Phoenix was coming off back-to-back 4-3 triumphs against SoCon foes Davidson and Chattanooga.

In Tuesday's match, Elon won the doubles point and then earned singles victories on courts No. 1, No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6.

Samford's singles triumphs were registered by seniors Carl Abalos and Oliver Reynolds on courts No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. In the No. 3 singles matchup, Abalos tallied a come-from-behind victory against the Phoenix's Eric Turner 4-6, 6-4, 10-2, while Reynolds outlasted Elon's Chase Helpingstine 3-6, 6-2, 10-3 on court No. 4.

With their play Tuesday, both Abalos and Reynolds improved their singles records on the season to 11-3. They also extended their individual winning streaks to five-consecutive matches.

The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a key two-match conference road trip against the Davidson Wildcats to be held in Davidson, N.C.