April 14, 2011

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Samford University men's tennis team will begin play in its final road swing of the 2011 regular season Friday as the Bulldogs square off against the Wofford Terriers in a key Southern Conference showdown to be held 3 p.m. (CDT) at the Reeves Tennis Center.

Samford (14-6, 4-4 SoCon) heads into the contest looking to rebound from a pair of hard-fought conference losses against College of Charleston and Appalachian State last week. In Sunday's 4-3 setback at Appalachian State, Samford swept all three doubles matches, but was defeated in four of the six singles contests.

Appalachian State clinched Sunday's conference duel versus Samford in singles play as Philip Kloc barely held on for a three-set win against the Bulldogs' Zac Dunkle. In the deciding contest held on court No. 2, Kloc won the first set 7-5 before Dunkle rallied for a 6-3 triumph in the second frame. To clinch the 4-3 victory for the Mountaineers, Kloc won the third set 7-5.

Samford opened the match with a trio of victories in doubles play to take an early 1-0 lead in the contest.

On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' combination of Oliver Reynolds and Carl Abalos tallied an 8-4 victory, while Samford's No. 2 doubles tandem of Alexander Sajonz and Dunkle registered an 8-7(10) triumph against Appalachian State's pairing of Alex Markov and Sebastien King. On court No. 3, the Bulldogs' duo comprised of Carson Kadi and Fernando Costa held on for a thrilling 9-8(2) win.

In singles play, the Mountaineers claimed a 2-1 lead in the match with victories on courts No. 1 and No. 6. Samford's Costa then evened the score at 2-2 with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph in the No. 5 singles contest.

Appalachian State recorded the next two singles wins to reach the decisive four-point mark in the match. The Mountaineers' King was victorious on court No. 4, while Kloc held on to clinch the win on court No. 2.

Samford's final singles triumph occurred in the No. 3 duel as Abalos rallied back for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory against Appalachian State's Alain Humblet. With his win, Abalos improved his singles record to 14-5 this season and made the final score of Sunday's match 4-3.

Costa, the Bulldogs' talented sophomore from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, moved his singles record on the season to 13-6 with his victory on court No. 5.

Wofford (8-10, 4-4 SoCon) heads into Friday's showdown against Samford with a full head of steam after the Terriers cruised past Chattanooga 6-1 on Sunday. In its home victory held at the Reeves Tennis Center, Wofford swept the doubles contest and was then triumphant in five of the six singles contests.

Samford enters this weekend's road trip in the midst of a three-way tie for fifth place in the SoCon standings. Upping the ante even more is the fact that the Bulldogs are tied for fifth place with this weekend's opponents, Wofford and Furman. All three teams own identical 4-4 conference records as they begin play in the final weekend of SoCon action.

These matches are huge for Samford because the top-five seeds in next week's 2011 SoCon Tournament will receive first-round byes. With a pair of wins against Wofford and Furman, the Bulldogs can secure the No. 5 seed and begin play in the 11-team tournament on April 21 instead of April 20.

In last season's annual matchup between Samford and Wofford, the Bulldogs fought to a 4-3 victory held at the Samford Tennis Center in Birmingham, Ala. Also last year, Samford dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision at home against Furman.

Following Friday's critical SoCon contest at Wofford, the Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Greenville, S.C., for another key matchup against the Furman Paladins to be held at the Mickel Tennis Center.