Tennis Comes Up Short At Home Against #6 Kentucky

Sunday, February 24

SAMFORD

10:00 AM

Samford University

#6 Kentucky

True freshman Fares Kilani picked up a huge singles win on court No. 3 against No. 6-ranked Kentucky.

Tennis Comes Up Short At Home Against #6 Kentucky

2.24.13 | Men's Tennis

Samford’s Kilani earns a thrilling three-set victory at the No. 3 singles match

Final Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In its second-consecutive match against a top 15 ranked opponent, the Samford men's tennis team dropped a 5-1 decision to the sixth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday as the Bulldogs hosted their highest-ranked opponent in school history at the Samford Tennis Center.

“We did a great job competing today,” said Samford head coach and former Kentucky standout Rahim Esmail. “Kentucky is one of the best teams in the country, and for us to challenge them at certain spots in their lineup is a great accomplishment for us. Kentucky is very talented and very well coached, and this was a great opportunity for us to compete against one of the top programs in the country.”

Samford (4-4) faced its second top 15 ranked opponent in as many days Sunday. On Saturday, the Bulldogs squared off against the No. 11 Mississippi State Bulldogs and suffered a 7-0 decision at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.

Earlier this season, Samford traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., and posted a historic 4-3 road victory at No. 45-ranked Alabama. In the Bulldogs' momentous triumph over the Crimson Tide, Samford ended a 31-match losing streak against Alabama, dating all the way back to May 5, 1961, when the school was named Howard College.

On Sunday, Samford and Kentucky (11-2) agreed not to hold the doubles competition and to focus solely on the six singles matches.

The Wildcats were victorious on five of the six singles courts, but the Bulldogs' true freshman Fares Kilani tallied his best win of the 2012-13 campaign as he knocked off the Wildcats' Alejandro Gomez, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), on court No. 3. With his pivotal triumph, Kilani improved to 5-3 in singles play this season.

“We got a lot out of today and I feel like we will be able to improve tremendously from our experiences this weekend in getting the opportunity to compete against two top-10 programs back-to-back,” Esmail said. “Fares did a great job of pulling out that match today. Overall, we are doing a lot of things well right now and I feel like we are making improvements each week as a team and as individuals.”

Esmail, in his second season at the helm of the Samford men's tennis team, was a standout at Kentucky from 2001 to 2004, where he was a fixture at No. 4 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Wildcats. In 2002, he went 31-4 in singles and 23-2 in doubles to help Kentucky climb to No. 4 in the national rankings, serving as a team captain for the Wildcats in his junior and senior seasons.

Esmail was ranked as high as No. 54 nationally in singles at Kentucky and attained a doubles rank as high as No. 8. As a junior, he was a six-time Canadian National singles finalist, a three-time junior Davis Cup team member, and winner of the 1998 national doubles championship. In 1999, Esmail competed in the junior French Open and the junior U.S. Open.

Last season, Esmail lifted the Bulldogs to a 17-win season and led his squad to a share of the 2012 Southern Conference title. Esmail, one of the hottest up-and-coming young coaches in the Southeast, piloted Samford to a 17-5 overall record in 2012 and finished with a stellar 9-1 mark in SoCon play.

The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action March 3 at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin SoCon play at home against defending conference tournament champion, the College of Charleston Cougars, in a key early-league matchup to be held at the Samford Tennis Center. Admission is FREE to all Samford home tennis matches.

Final Results