ATLANTA – In its toughest match of the young 2013 campaign, the Samford University men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision on the road Sunday against the 59
th-ranked Georgia State Panthers in a nonconference duel held at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center in Piedmont Park.
"We competed hard today, especially towards the end of the match," said Samford head coach
Rahim Esmail. "We started off well in doubles on all three courts, but could not capitalize on our opportunities. We had a slow start in singles but finished strong. The freshmen competed well and played well in singles today, getting us our two victories. It was some tough conditions to play in and I give Georgia State a lot of credit in being just a little tougher than us in winning that match."
Samford (1-1) suffered its first defeat of the season Sunday and will return to the state of Alabama this week for a Wednesday matchup on the road at No. 52 Alabama.
No. 59 Georgia State (4-1) took an early 1-0 lead in the match by hanging on to win the doubles point. The Bulldogs' pairing of
Zac Dunkle and
Alex Sajonz earned an 8-7 triumph on court No. 1, while the Panthers' duo comprised of Lucas Santa Ana and Victor Valente earned an 8-4 win in the No. 2 doubles contest.
With the teams splitting the first two matches, the all-important doubles point came down to court No. 3. In an epic battle, Georgia State's combination of Thomas Cook and Andrew Zedde eked out a hard-fought 8-7 victory against Samford's gritty doubles team of
Austin Akers and
Fares Kilani.
The Bulldogs also fought hard in singles play Sunday, but the Panthers received victories on courts No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 to claim the 5-2 win.
Samford's singles victories came on courts No. 3 and No. 5. In the No. 3 singles contest, the Bulldogs' Kilani rallied back to earn a thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 triumph over Georgia State's Zedde, while Samford's Akers also came from behind to knock off the Panthers' Robert Schulze, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5.
With their respective victories, both of the Bulldogs' freshmen, Kilani and Akers, improved to a perfect 2-0 in singles play this season.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the 52nd-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
