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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford men's tennis team will face a nationally-ranked opponent for the second straight outing Wednesday as the Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa for an in-state battle against the No. 52-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide to be held indoors at 6 p.m. (CST) at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
 
Samford (1-1) heads into the contest looking to bounce back from a hard-fought 5-2 decision at No. 59-ranked Georgia State on Sunday. In the matchup, Georgia State took an early 1-0 lead 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.
 
No. 52 Alabama (6-1) is in the midst of a four-match winning streak. The Crimson Tide has not been defeated since Jan. 26 in a slight 4-3 loss to Wake Forest. Alabama most recently earned a doubleheader sweep over Cornell, 5-2, and Harvard, 4-1, on Saturday.
 
Against Cornell, Alabama won two of the three matches to claim the doubles point. First to finish was the matchup on court three where Carlos Taborga and Philippe Tsangarides cruised to an 8-3 decision over Big Red sophomores Kyle Berman and Jason Luu. Cornell evened the count with an 8-5 win on court one; however the Crimson Tide's Daniil Proskura and David Vieyra held on to win their match on court two, 8-7(4), over sophomores Sam Fleck and Quoc-Daniel Nguyen to give Alabama the 1-0 edge.
 
The Crimson Tide would then claim wins at the top two spots in singles play with Jarryd Botha posting a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court two while freshman Becker O'Shaughnessey came out on top, 6-4, 6-4, to put Alabama in front, 3-0, in the match. The Big Red would win the next two with victories on courts five and four; however a win for Proskura at No. 3 over Fleck, 6-4, 7-5, sealed the team win for the Crimson Tide.
 
Alabama would also win the doubles point against Harvard with Taborga and Tsangarides downing freshmen Conor Haughey and Kelvin Lam, 8-3, on court three before Botha and O'Shaughnessey beat out sophomores Denis Nguyen and Alex Steinroeder, 8-5, on court one.
 
Wins from Proskura and Botha in singles would make it a 3-0 lead in favor of the Crimson Tide before the Crimson was able to earn its first, and only, point of the match with a victory on court four. O'Shaughnessey would close it out on court one, battling back after dropping his first set to beat Denis Nguyen, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(2).
 
Last season, Samford and Alabama squared off in a marathon match held at the Samford Tennis Center and the Bulldogs nearly pulled off the upset victory on Senior Night.
 
The Crimson Tide tallied the doubles point by earning victories on all three courts, but then Samford's Zac Dunkle earned a straight-set triumph 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 singles victory occurred at court No. 3 where Elliot Barnwell knocked off the Crimson Tide's Vikram Reddy, 7-6(4), 6-4.
 
Despite Samford's ferocious rally in singles play, Alabama was able to fend off the Bulldogs to hang on to a 4-3 victory.
 
Following Wednesday's in-state contest at Alabama, the Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a three-match homestand versus the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a nonconference duel to be held at the Samford Tennis Complex.

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