Feb. 9, 2012

Results

TROY, Ala. - The Samford University men's tennis team extended its season-opening winning streak to three consecutive matches Thursday as the Bulldogs battled to a hard-fought 4-3 victory over the Troy Trojans in an in-state contest held at the Lunsford Tennis Complex.

"I'm extremely proud of this team right now," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We are winning matches off of hard work and guts. This team is growing by each match we play. Troy played a great match today and fought extremely hard. They made us earn everything that we got."

Samford (3-0) proved to be victorious in its first road match of the season Thursday. Heading into its non-conference contest at Troy (0-3), the Bulldogs were coming off home wins over Lipscomb, 4-3, and USC Upstate, 5-2.

In what turned out to be a huge point Thursday, Samford earned doubles wins on courts No. 1 and No. 3 to take an all-important 1-0 lead in the match.

The Bulldogs' No. 1 doubles combination of Zac Dunkle and Alexander Sajonz tallied an 8-3 victory over the Trojans' duo comprised of Patrick Eichler and Sam Ghorbel, 8-3, while Samford clinched the point in the No. 3 doubles contest with an 8-4 triumph from senior Carson Kadi and teammate Fernando Costa.

With their key win Thursday, the Bulldogs' Kadi and Costa improved to 2-1 on the season. Samford's tandem of Dunkle and Sajonz remained undefeated in dual-match play with a 3-0 record.

"Dunkle is playing some confident tennis right now," Esmail said. "The guys stepped up and gutted out another tough match, and again, the doubles point was key. The guys are doing a great job at coming together as a team and playing for each other."

In singles play, Troy quickly bounced back with wins on courts No. 6 and No. 5 to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Trojans' lead would prove to be short-lived as Samford rallied back to win the next three singles matches and clinched a 4-2 overall victory. Troy's Anas Rouchdi would later tally a victory on court No. 1 to make the final score of the night, 4-3.

The Bulldogs' key singles triumphs were registered by Elliot Barnwell on court No. 3, 7-5, 6-2, Costa on court No. 4, 7-5, 6-2, and Dunkle in a critical three-set victory over Troy's Ghorbel in the No. 2 singles duel. With their respective wins, Samford's Barnwell, Costa and Dunkle all remained undefeated in singles play this season at 3-0.

The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a critical two-match weekend homestand against the UAB Blazers to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.