April 20, 2011

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Samford University women's tennis team will begin play in the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament Thursday at 7:30 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the hometown-favorite Chattanooga Lady Mocs in the quarterfinal round of competition being held at the Champions Club.

Samford (17-4) heads into the SoCon Tournament as the No. 4-seeded squad in the 11-team, single-elimination competition. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 7-3 conference record and earned a first-round bye in this week's tournament.

Chattanooga (11-10), the host school of the 2011 SoCon Tournament, enters the event as the fifth-seeded team. The Lady Mocs concluded the season with a 6-4 conference record and also earned a first-round bye.

Play in the 2011 SoCon Tournament began Wednesday as Georgia Southern, Elon and Appalachian State advanced in the first round of competition held at the Champions Club.

The No.7-seeded Georgia Southern came away with a 4-0 win over Western Carolina, while Elon posted a 4-1 victory over Davidson. In the third match of the day, Appalachian State held on for a thrilling 4-3 win against Wofford.

Samford enters Thursday's showdown with a full head of steam after ending the regular season with a four-match winning streak. The Bulldogs have been victorious in seven of their last eight contests and closed out SoCon play with consecutive wins against Georgia Southern 6-1, Davidson 7-0, Appalachian State 6-1 and Chattanooga 6-1.

A week ago, Samford tallied its 6-1 conference victory against Chattanooga in their regular-season finale held at the UTC Tennis Courts.

The Bulldogs swept all three doubles matches and then picked up singles wins from Andrie Meiring, Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Kristin Lewis, Rebecca Kirven and Lindsey Mallory. With a straight-set win against Chattanooga's Alexa Flynn on court No. 2, Samford's Meiring improved her record on the season to 18-3.

Samford's Janse Van Rensburg also improved to 18-3 in singles play, while Lewis moved her record to 17-3 and Lindsey Mallory moved to 15-2.

In the doubles competition between the teams, Samford's tandems comprised of Morgan and Mallory, and Meiring and Kirven both improved their team-best records to 15-6 in doubles play. On court No. 3, the Bulldogs' pairing of Janse Van Rensburg and Jessica Diamond defeated Chattanooga's combination of Grace Robinette and Annie Green 8-5.

Chattanooga also enters the SoCon Tournament with a full head of steam after defeating Appalachian State 5-2 on Saturday. Sophomore Jenna Nurik, the 2010 SoCon Freshman of the Year, owns a 12-9 record in spring action at the top spot. She is also one of five Lady Mocs in double-figures with a 17-14 overall singles record. Freshman Alexa Flynn leads the team, going 18-11 singles.

Junior Shaina Singh is the third Lady Moc with 10 wins. She has won seven of her last 10 and is now 17-14. She finished with a 7-3 record in SoCon action at No. 4.

Junior Emily Hangstefer is 6-9 at No. 3 while fellow junior Charlotte Bossy is 8-7 at No. 5. Freshman Diana Zora has been in the lineup the last month and is 5-7 in dual matches. Nurik and Singh make up Chattanooga's top doubles team. They have won seven of their last 10 matches and are 14-6 in the spring, 19-8 overall. The duo also finished with a 7-3 mark in SoCon play.

At last season's SoCon Tournament, Samford advanced to the semifinal round of competition where they lost a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to Furman.

The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal contest between fourth-seeded Samford and fifth-seeded Chattanooga will advance to Friday's semifinal round where they would face either No. 8-seed Appalachian State or top-seeded College of Charleston at 9 a.m. (CDT).

SoCon Tournament Bracket
Live Stats