BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Less than a week after topping No. 45-ranked Alabama to earn its best win in school history, the Samford University men's tennis team will return to action at home Wednesday for a tough in-state rivalry match against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The contest is slated to begin at 1 p.m. (CST) at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
Last Wednesday, in just its third match of the young 2013 spring season, Samford registered its historic 4-3 victory against the No.45 Alabama at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
 
With the win, Samford (2-1) ended a 31-match losing streak against Alabama (7-2), dating all the way back to May 5, 1961, when the school was named Howard College. Therefore, it was the Bulldogs' first win over the Crimson Tide in nearly 52 years.
 
The decisive singles match of the contest occurred on court No. 4 as Samford's Alex Sajonz gutted out a thrilling 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 victory over Alabama's David Vieyra. With his match-clinching, three-set triumph, the Bulldogs' Sajonz broke out of an early-season slump and improved to 1-2 in singles play this year.
 
Despite losing the all-important doubles match, Samford reeled off four key victories in singles play to earn the momentous 4-3 team win.
 
Competing indoors at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility, the Bulldogs' Austin Akers and Zac Dunkle quickly set the tone in singles play by streaking to straight-set victories on courts No. 5 and No. 1.
 
In the No. 1 singles contest, Samford's Dunkle registered a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over the nation's 79^th-ranked Jarryd Botha, while Akers, the Bulldogs' redshirt freshman transfer from the University of Wisconsin, breezed past the Crimson Tide's Stuart Kenyon, 6-2, 6-2, on court No. 5. Dunkle improved his singles record to 2-1 this season, as Akers remained undefeated at 3-0.
 
Samford's third key victory in singles play occurred on court No. 2 where junior Elliot Barnwell overcame a 6-0 loss in the first set to rally back for a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Alabama's Becker O'Shaughnessey. Barnwell, the Bulldogs' talented native of Mancetter, United Kingdom, moved to 1-2 in singles play this season.
 
Jacksonville State (0-4) enters Wednesday's contest with aspirations of ending its current four-match losing streak. Since beginning their spring season with consecutive defeats against Auburn, 7-0, Southern Miss, 6-1, Nicholls State, 6-1, and Chattanooga, 6-1, the Gamecocks are coming off a long, 10-day hiatus.
 
The Mocs lost at Chattanooga in their most recent outing Feb. 2. The Mocs jumped on the scoreboard first by claiming the doubles point with wins on courts Nos. 2 and 3, but the Gamecocks' top duo of Nenad Marcec and Axel Sundberg edged Chattanooga's pairing of Chris Smith and Roberto Vieira, 8-6.

Jacksonville State's lone point came at the No. 2 singles position as senior Igor Santos won a three-set marathon. Santos topped Smith, 6-4, to open the match, but Smith bounced back to force a third-and-deciding set by winning the second frame. Santos tallied a 6-3 win in the final set to secure the point. Santos moved to 2-2 on the season in singles play.

The Gamecocks' Sundberg dropped a hard-fought, 7-6, 6-3 decision to Vieira at court No. 1. Felipe Diaz, Felipe Wenzel and Felipe Wanatabe battled at the lower half of the line up before falling in straight-sets.
 
Last season, Samford played on the road at Jacksonville State and earned a hard-fought 4-2 victory at the JSU Tennis Courts. In a hotly-contested doubles competition, Samford rallied for wins on courts No. 2 and No. 3 to earn the early 1-0 advantage in the match.
 
The Bulldogs' No. 3 doubles combination of Fernando Costa and Carson Kadi cruised to an 8-2 victory over Jacksonville State's pairing of Joshua Bourke and Wenzel, while the Gamecocks' duo comprised of Marcec and Sundberg held on for a 9-8 win on court No. 1.
 
In the decisive doubles contest held on court No. 2, Samford's tandem of Ryan Shidler and Barnwell registered a clutch 9-8 triumph over Jacksonville State's squad of Igor Santos and Watanabe. The Bulldogs' team of Barnwell and Shidler clinched the doubles point for Samford and improved its record on the season to 3-3 at the No. 2 position.
 
Samford increased its lead to 3-0 in singles play with quick straight-set victories from Dunkle and Costa.
 
On court No. 1, Dunkle breezed to a 6-1 win in his first set against the Gamecocks' Sundberg before the Jacksonville State netter retired due to an injury. Samford's match-clinching victory occurred on court No. 6 as Shidler rallied back to knock off Jacksonville State's Bourke, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. Shidler's win secured the Bulldogs' 4-2 victory as he improved to 1-3 in dual-match play this year.
 
Following Wednesday's meeting with Jacksonville State, the Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday at 11 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a critical two-match stretch versus Southeastern Conference opponents at Mississippi State. Samford will then return home from Starkville, Miss., to face off against Kentucky on Feb. 24 at 10 a.m.