Samford Media Guide

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University women's tennis team will play four of its next five matches at home against quality opponents and will kick-off its important stretch Wednesday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs host cross-town rival UAB in a critical intra-city duel to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
Samford (4-2) will play four of its next five matches at home in Birmingham. Following Wednesday's contest against UAB (5-1), the Bulldogs will host Southern Miss on Saturday at noon before travelling to Mississippi State for a midweek meeting on Feb. 27 in Starkville, Miss.
 
On March 2-3, Samford is slated to being Southern Conference play at home with a pair of key contests against Western Carolina and Appalachian State, respectively.
 
The Bulldogs head into Wednesday's match against UAB with aspirations of bouncing back from a difficult 5-2 loss at Troy on Saturday.
 
In the road setback, Samford won the doubles point, but came up short in the bottom five singles matches held on court Nos. 2-6. The Bulldogs' lone victory in singles play occurred on court No. 1 where reigning SoCon Player of the Week Kristin Lewis came from behind to beat the Trojans' Karoline Grymel, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
 
Lewis, Samford's dominant junior from Odenville, remained undefeated in singles play this season and improved to 5-0 when competing on court No. 1.
 
In doubles play Saturday, Lewis combined with sophomore Stephanie N'tcha to defeat Troy's combination of Anja Cosovic and Grymel, 8-6, on court No. 1. The Bulldogs later clinched the doubles point on court No. 3 as Samford's duo comprised of Jessica Northcutt and Emily Mallory outlasted the Trojans' Olivia Brooke Durden and Candela Munoz Giron, 9-8 (4).
 
UAB also enters Wednesday's match coming off an in-state duel with Troy. On Sunday, with her team down 3-0, the Blazers' freshman Amy Lowther capped off UAB's 4-3 come-from-behind victory with a win at the No. 4 singles position.
 
The Blazers found themselved in an early hole as Troy took the doubles point before claiming consecutive singles wins at the No. 3 and No. 5 courts.
 
As the two teams went to singles, the Trojans once again flexed their muscles with two-straight victories. Rosaura Ramirez-Vega claimed a 6-2, 6-1 win over Blazer Elaine Simon at the fifth spot, before UAB's Moolman fell, 7-5, 6-2, at the third position to put the Green and Gold down 3-0.
 
Rachel Daniell started UAB's rally with an impressive straight-set 6-2, 6-4 victory over Troy's Dorofeeva at court No. 2, before Sarah Witkowski hung on in a tiebreaker second set for a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Trojan Samya El Hsissen at the sixth spot.
 
With Troy's lead shaved down to 3-2, the match came down to the first and fourth courts and UAB senior Isabel Fernandez and Lowther. Fernandez fell in the first set 2-6 but then evened things up with a 6-4 victory in the second. Meanwhile, Lowther took a first set win, setting up a thrilling finish.
 
It was Fernandez who tied the match at 3-3 when she fought off Grymel for a 7-5 third-set win in a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory. With the match tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to the UAB freshman at court No. 4, who was caught in a back and forth second set. Lowther delivered for the Blazers, winning the tie-breaker, 8-6, in a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win to clinch UAB's 4-3 comeback.
 
Last season, Samford posted a 7-0 victory against UAB and blanked the Blazers for a second straight year. The Bulldogs were victorious in two of the three doubles courts and won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead.
 
In the No. 1 doubles matchup, Samford's tandem comprised of Lewis and Lindsey Mallory defeated UAB's combination of Paula Alvarez and Fernandez, 8-6. Samford was also victorious on court No. 2 as Rebecca Kirven and Madelie Janse Van Rensburg topped the Blazers' pairing of Rachel Daniell and Menanteau Moolman, 8-6.
 
In singles play, Samford swept the top five courts and won court on No. 6 by default. Due to injuries, UAB only had five healthy competitors.
 
The Bulldogs' Lewis, Janse Van Rensburg and Kirven were all triumphant in straight sets against their Blazer counterparts, while Stephanie N'tcha and Lindsey Mallory outlasted their opponents in three-set battles.
 
Following Wednesday's cross-town rivalry match with UAB, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs remain at home for another key nonconference contest against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.

Samford Media Guide