March 26, 2011

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In a battle between two upper-echelon teams in the talent-laden Southern Conference, the Samford University women's tennis team fell just shy of knocking off the Furman Paladins Saturday in a SoCon showdown held indoors at the Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion.

The outcome of the critical league contest came down to the final singles match as Furman (6-8, 3-0 SoCon) held on for the slight 4-3 victory. In the decisive contest held on court No. 5, the Paladins' Amanda Murray overcame a first-set deficit to rally for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Samford's Rebecca Kirven. The defeat snapped Kirven's four-match winning streak in singles play this season.

The ever-crucial doubles point also came down to the final match Saturday. With the score of the competition deadlocked at one doubles victory apiece, Furman's duo comprised of Katherine Oudin and Margaret Boyette outlasted the Bulldogs' pairing of Lindsey Mallory and Taylor Morgan 9-8.

By winning the doubles point, the Paladins took a critical 1-0 scoring advantage in the match.

Samford (10-3, 2-2 SoCon) and Furman have developed a heated rivalry in their brief three seasons as conference foes. The Bulldogs and Paladins rarely squared off on the hard court until Samford joined the league in 2009.

Last year, the Bulldogs used a 6-1 victory at Furman to snap the Paladins' ridiculous 100-match SoCon regular-season winning streak. The unprecedented stretch encompassed 11 years of undefeated play as Furman dominated the SoCon. Then, in the 2010 SoCon Tournament, the Paladins avenged their earlier loss to Samford with a 4-3 triumph held in Charleston, S.C.

On Saturday, rain swept through the Birmingham area forcing the teams to play indoors at the sparkling Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion.

After Furman earned the doubles point, the Paladins extended their lead to 2-0 as 86th-ranked Monica Arguello defeated Samford's Morgan 6-3, 7-6(5), on court No. 1. The Bulldogs then bounced back with victories on courts No. 2 and No. 3 to even the score of the match at 2-2.

Samford's Madelie Janse Van Rensburg registered a straight-set singles victory in the No. 3 matchup, while the Bulldogs' Andrie Meiring outlasted Furman's Oudin 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 on court No. 2. With their respective wins, both Janse Van Rensburg and Meiring improved to 11-2 in singles play this season.

In the final third of matches held at the Courington Center Saturday, the teams split the next pair of outcomes held on courts No. 4 and No. 6.

Furman's Boyette earned a victory in the No. 4 singles contest, while the Bulldogs' Lindsey Mallory breezed to a 6-2, 6-4 win on court No. 6. With her straight-set triumph, Mallory extended her team-best winning streak to eight-consecutive matches and improved her singles record on the season to 9-1.

Following Mallory's score-tying victory, all the attention of the match shifted to court No. 5 where Murray and Kirven battled for the win. Samford's Kirven earned the first set 6-2, but then Murray bounced back to take the final two frames 6-3, 6-4. With Murray's win, Furman clinched the hard-fought match by a score of 4-3.

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.