April 12, 2012

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In a hard-fought battle that lasted well into the night Wednesday, the Samford University men's tennis team suffered a heart-breaking 4-3 loss against the Alabama Crimson Tide in a hotly-contested, in-state rivalry match held at the Samford Tennis Center.

"I am extremely pleased with our team's effort today," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We put ourselves in a position to win today and came up a bit short. I have a lot of respect for Alabama's team, their coaches, and their players, as they do a great job of competing every year in one of the best leagues in the country, while continuing to produce top-50 teams each year."

With Wednesday's loss, Samford (14-4) had its three-match winning streak snapped and was defeated at home for the first time since Feb. 11. The Bulldogs compiled a stellar 7-3 record at the Samford Tennis Center this year.

On Friday, Samford will compete in its final match of the 2012 regular season as the Bulldogs head to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a Southern Conference showdown against their rival Chattanooga Mocs to be held at 2 p.m. (CDT).

Alabama (10-13) picked up a pair of non-conference wins Wednesday. The Crimson Tide rolled to a lopsided 4-0 triumph at UAB before earning its hard-fought 4-3 victory at Samford.

In the Bulldogs' Senior Night contest against Alabama, the Crimson Tide tallied the doubles point by earning victories on all three courts.

"I thought we could have played a better doubles point," said Esmail. "We got off to a slow start and it took us some time to get ourselves in to the match. We did a great job in singles today, raising our energy level after the doubles point. We are looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow and getting prepared to play our last regular-season conference match on Friday."

In Wednesday's singles competition, Samford's Zac Dunkle earned a straight-set victory on court No. 1, while Fernando Costa outlasted Alabama's David Vieyra, 6-1, 3-6, 5-1 ret., in the No. 4 singles contest. The Bulldogs' third victory occurred at court No. 3 where Elliot Barnwell knocked off the Crimson Tide's Vikram Reddy, 7-6(4), 6-4.

Barnwell, Samford's talented native of Mancetter, United Kingdom, picked up his third-straight win Wednesday and improved his team-best record on the season to 16-2.

Three of Samford's four losses in 2012 have occurred by identical 4-3 scores. The Bulldogs' only defeat that wasn't by a mark of 4-3 was a 4-2 setback against Southern Miss on Feb. 11. That match was cut short due to Samford's impending appearance at the men's basketball game where the Bulldogs received their 2011 SoCon Championship rings.

"We were able to push Alabama to its limits today and I am pleased with our efforts," Esmail said. "We have talked all year about our work ethic and what it will take to take our program to the next level, and even though we came up short, today our team showed that their work ethic and desire to succeed is paying off, as they were able to go the distance with a very good Alabama team.

The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday as the Bulldogs head to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a regular season-ending contest against the Chattanooga Mocs to be held at 2 p.m. (CDT) in a critical SoCon showdown.