April 10, 2011

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team closed out its 2011 home schedule with a decisive victory Sunday as the Bulldogs registered a 6-1 Southern Conference triumph against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a critical league showdown held at the Samford Tennis Center.

With the victory, Samford (16-4, 6-3 SoCon) extended its winning streak to three-consecutive matches and concluded its home slate with a stellar 11-1 record at the Samford Tennis Center. The Bulldogs' lone loss in Birmingham this season was a hard-fought 4-3 setback against Furman on March 26.

Samford concluded its 2011 home schedule with consecutive victories against Wofford 7-0, Columbus State 7-0, Abilene Christian 4-1, Davidson 7-0 and Appalachian State (10-9, 3-6 SoCon) 6-1.

With the Mountaineers' loss Sunday, they had their season-long three-match winning streak snapped. Prior to its loss against Samford, Appalachian State was coming off consecutive triumphs versus North Carolina Central 7-0, Western Carolina 5-2 and Wofford 6-1.

The Bulldogs lost the doubles point to the Mountaineers, but cruised to straight-set victories on all six singles courts to notch a 6-1 team victory. In the singles play, Samford received wins from Taylor Morgan, Andrie Meiring, Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Kristin Lewis, Rebecca Kirven and Lindsey Mallory.

The Bulldogs dominated the singles competition as the closest match Sunday was Lindsey Mallory's 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Appalachian State's Kim-Lea Dinh on court No. 6. With her victory, Mallory extended her winning streak to three straight matches and improved to 14-2 in singles play this season.

Samford's Morgan registered her seventh-consecutive triumph Sunday and moved her singles record to 14-5 in 2011. The Bulldogs' reigning SoCon Player of the Week has been victorious in eight of her previous 10 outings at the talent-laden No. 1 singles position.

Junior Janse Van Rensburg and senior Meiring both improved their team-best singles records to 17-3 on Sunday.

The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs conclude their regular-season schedule with a key SoCon matchup against arch-rival Chattanooga to be held on the road in Chattanooga, Tenn.