March 25, 2011

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team will begin a four-match homestand Saturday at 11 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Furman Paladins to the Samford Tennis Center for a key Southern Conference showdown.

Samford (10-2, 2-1 SoCon) heads into the matchup looking to rebound from a hard-fought 4-3 loss at Tulane on March 19. The defeat snapped the Bulldogs' four-match winning streak which featured victories against Western Carolina 7-0, UT Martin 6-1, Murray State 7-0 and the University of New Orleans 7-0.

Against Tulane, Samford dropped the doubles point and fell behind early by a score of 1-0. The Green Wave earned the point by securing identical 8-3 victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2. In the No. 3 doubles contest, the Bulldogs duo comprised of Madelie Janse Van Rensburg and Jessica Diamond defeated Tulane's pairing of Hila Elster and Elizabeth Hamlin, 8-7(1).

With their win, Samford's combination of Diamond and Janse Van Rensburg improved its doubles record on the season to 5-1.

In the singles competition, the Bulldogs received victories from Kristin Lewis, Rebecca Kirven and Lindsey Mallory and courts No. 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Lewis tallied a three-set win on court No. 4, while Kirven breezed past Hamlin on court No. 5, 6-3, 6-2, and Lindsey Mallory outlasted Tulane's Emma Helisten, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, in the No. 6 singles contest.

Heading into the final singles match of the day, Samford and Tulane were deadlocked at 3-3. In the No. 3 singles contest, the Green Wave's Lindsay Dvorak held on for the deciding 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-1, victory against the Bulldogs' Janse Van Rensburg.

Samford's Lewis, a sophomore from Odenville, Ala., improved her team-best record on the season to 11-1 in singles play. The Bulldogs' No. 4 singles competitor has been victorious in six straight matches.

Furman (5-8, 2-0 SoCon) enters Saturday's contest with a full head of steam after cruising to a 7-0 win against arch-rival Wofford on Tuesday. In the victory, which snapped a four-match losing streak, the Lady Paladins swept the singles matches and won two out of three doubles contests for the lopsided win.

Senior Monica Arguello, who is ranked 86th nationally, defeated Emilia Milovanovic, 6-3, 6-2, in the top singles match, while sophomore Lauren Kline beat Haley Baird, 6-1, 6-1, on court No. 2. Furman freshman Margaret Boyette posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sarah Evans in the third singles matchup and fellow rookie Amanda Murray defeated Julia Paulson, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4 singles.

The Paladins' sophomore Michele Stanford notched a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lucy Schermerhorn in the fifth singles match and senior Jennifer Betts tallied a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Meagan Laframboise on court No. 6.

In doubles action, Wofford's Milovanovic and Baird teamed up for an 8-6 win over Boyette and Kline in the top match. Furman then picked up wins on courts No. 2 and No. 3 to take the doubles point.

Last year, Samford and Furman squared off twice in dual-match play and split the pair of hard-fought contests. In the regular-season meeting held at the Samford Tennis Center, the Bulldogs earned a historic 6-1 victory against the Paladins.

With the win, Samford handed Furman its first SoCon regular-season loss in over 11 years. The defeat snapped the Paladins' 100-match SoCon winning streak in regular-season play. In the Bulldogs' momentous victory, Samford won the doubles points and received key singles wins from Andrie Meiring, Janse Van Rensburg, Stephanie Parkison, Kirven and Lindsey Mallory.

At the 2010 SoCon Tournament, Furman avenged the Bulldogs' earlier win and posted a slight 4-3 victory in the semifinal round of the postseason competition. The 2010 SoCon Tournament was held in Charleston, S.C.

Following Saturday's showdown with Furman, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their four-match homestand with another key SoCon duel against the Wofford Terriers to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.