March 21, 2012
Results
CHARLESTON, S.C. -
The first-place Samford University men's tennis team extended its winning streak to eight-consecutive matches Wednesday as the Bulldogs posted a decisive 6-1 Southern Conference victory against The Citadel Bulldogs in a key league contest held at the Earle Tennis Center.
"We played a solid match today," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We played a good doubles point and made sure that we kept up our level of play and energy level heading into the singles point. Zac had a great match today at No. 1. The quality of tennis was very high and he did a good job of doing the things that were needed in order to give himself the opportunity to win that match."
With the win, Samford (11-2, 5-0 SoCon) remained undefeated in conference play and maintained its significant hold on the first-place position in the SoCon standings. The Bulldogs have not been defeated in well over a month as Samford suffered its last loss on Feb. 11 in a hard-fought 4-2 home defeat against Southern Miss.
Since then, the Bulldogs have rattled off eight-consecutive victories and have outscored their opponents by a total of 43-12.
The Citadel (4-11, 0-5 SoCon), which is in the midst of its first season under the tutelage of former Samford head coach Kemper Baker, dropped its ninth-consecutive match Wednesday. The Cadets' most recent victory occurred March 2 as they defeated Bethune-Cookman, 5-2.
Since then, The Citadel has been defeated in consecutive contests by Elon, East Carolina, James Madison, UNCG, UNC Charlotte, Buffalo, Wofford, Davidson and Samford.
The Cadets' Baker and Assistant Coach Oliver Reynolds were both members of the Samford tennis team last season. Baker was the head coach of the Bulldogs from 2002 to 2011, while Reynolds was a key senior standout on Samford's 2011 SoCon championship team.
In Wednesday's contest, Samford swept the doubles competition and then received straight-set singles victories from Carson Kadi, Elliot Barnwell, Fernando Costa, Alexander Sajonz and Garrison Laduca. The Bulldogs' five wins in singles play secured Samford's 6-1 team triumph.
Kadi tallied his seventh-straight triumph in singles play on court No. 2, while Sajonz defeated Elliott Sperr in the No. 5 contest to register his third-consecutive victory. With his dominant 6-1, 6-1 win, Sajonz improved his singles record on the season to 8-4. Kadi, who earlier this spring switched to the No. 2 singles position, remained nearly perfect at the spot with a stellar 7-1 record.
On court No. 3, Samford's Elliot Barnwell also extended his winning streak to seven-consecutive matches by earning a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over The Citadel's James Atkinson. With the victory, Barnwell improved his team-leading record in singles play this season to 12-1.
The Bulldogs' sophomore native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Fernando Costa, moved his singles record on the season to 10-3 Wednesday, while Samford's Garrison Laduca picked up his first dual-match victory with a critical 7-6(3), 6-2 victory over the Cadets' Alex Howle on court No. 6.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs remain in Charleston, S.C., for a key SoCon contest against the College of Charleston Cougars to be held at the Patriots Point Tennis Center.
