April 2, 2011
Results
CHARLESTON, S.C. -
The Samford University women's tennis team had its three-match winning streak snapped Saturday as the Bulldogs suffered a 5-2 Southern Conference loss on the road against the College of Charleston Cougars in a hard-fought contest held at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
With the defeat, Samford (13-4, 3-3 SoCon) dropped its first match since a 4-3 home setback versus Furman on March 26. Prior to Saturday's contest, the Bulldogs were coming off consecutive victories against Wofford 7-0, Columbus State 7-0 and Abilene Christian 4-1. Even with the loss, Samford still owns a solid 4-3 record in road matches this season.
College of Charleston (12-7, 4-0 SoCon) remained undefeated in conference play this year. The Cougars barely won Saturday's doubles contest and then tallied singles victories on courts No. 2, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6.
In the all-important doubles competition, Samford's No. 1 tandem of Taylor Morgan and Lindsey Mallory fought for a 9-8(5) victory against College of Charleston's pairing of Emma Hayman and Irene Viana. On courts No. 2 and No. 3, the Cougars' doubles teams squeaked by with identical wins of 8-6.
College of Charleston entered singles play with an early 1-0 advantage in the match and then registered four wins to earn the 5-2 decision.
Samford's singles victories occurred on courts No. 1 and No. 4 where Morgan and Kristin Lewis were both triumphant in straight sets. Morgan, the Bulldogs' senior from Jacksonville, Fla., topped the Cougars' Christin Newman 6-4, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles contest, while Samford's Lewis streaked past Kinsey Casey 6-2, 6-2 on court No. 4.
Lewis, the Bulldogs' talented sophomore from Odenville, Ala., improved her singles record on the season to 14-3, while Morgan registered her fourth straight victory and moved to 11-5 this year.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Statesboro, Ga., for another key conference contest against the Georgia Southern Eagles.