March 31, 2012

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University men's tennis team closed out its Southern Conference home slate Saturday with a key 5-2 victory against the Davidson Wildcats in a critical league matchup held at the Samford Tennis Center.

"Today was an extremely hard-fought match," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We did a great job of hanging in there and finding ways to get ourselves back in some matches. Doubles was great today on all courts. We played solid across the board and that got us off to a good start. Davidson made us work for everything today. They are a very solid team and a lot of credit goes to their efforts."

With Saturday's victory, Samford (12-3, 6-1 SoCon) extended its home winning streak to five-consecutive matches. Since losing to Southern Miss, 4-2, on Feb. 11, the Bulldogs have rattled off home triumphs against Wofford 6-1, Appalachian State 4-3, Furman 5-2, Georgia Southern 6-1 and Davidson (6-11, 2-5 SoCon), 5-2.

Samford closed out its home SoCon schedule with an unblemished 5-0 record. The Bulldogs' lone conference loss this season occurred March 23 in a hard-fought 4-3 defeat at College of Charleston.

In Saturday's 5-2 home victory against Davidson, Samford swept the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead in the contest. With their 8-4 triumph on court No. 3, the Bulldogs' tandem comprised of Fernando Costa and Carson Kadi extended their season-high winning streak to 10-consecutive matches. Samford's duo also improved its record in dual-match play to 12-3.

The Bulldogs earned four victories in Saturday's singles competition, all of which occurred in three sets. Samford's Fernando Costa, Garrison Laduca and Kadi all rebounded to win their matches after dropping the first set.

Alexander Sajonz, the Bulldogs' junior from Kungsbacka, Sweden, outlasted Davidson's Robert Lightbourn, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, on court No. 5. With his victory, Sajonz improved his winning streak to five-consecutive matches and moved to 10-4 in dual play this season.

"Fernando, Carson and Garrison all lost their first sets and did a great job of getting themselves back into the match and then dug deep to win their third sets," Esmail said. "Carson showed a lot of leadership today, and showed exactly why he is our team leader. He lost a tough first set, but continued to fight and give it everything he had, and it paid off."

A key victory for the Bulldogs on Saturday occurred at the No. 6 singles matchup. Samford's LaDuca dropped the first set, 6-4, but then bounced back with a clutch 7-6 (7) triumph in the second frame. The Bulldogs' sophomore from Woodstock, Ga., then earned a decisive 6-1 victory in the third set.

"This was a great win for Garrison at No. 6," said Esmail. "We have been working hard at that spot all season and today was a much needed win down there. Fernando did a great job of clinching the fourth point. He was playing the tennis that we are used to seeing him play by the end of that match."

The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday at 3 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a two-match conference road trip against the Elon Phoenix to be held at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.