Final Results
Samford Season Stats
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In just its third match of the young 2013 spring season, the Samford University men's tennis team knocked off a ranked opponent on the road Wednesday as the Bulldogs registered a historic 4-3 victory against the No. 45 Alabama Crimson Tide at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
“I am extremely proud of our team today," said Samford head coach
Rahim Esmail. "I am happy that we were able to get this win, but I am also proud of the way we fought and competed tonight. Win or lose, every single person on our team put in a gutsy performance and left it all out there. Alabama is a very good team, and is very well coached. We had to come up with some of our best tennis today to get this win."
With Wednesday's triumph,
Samford (2-1) ended a 31-match losing streak against
No. 45 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 match of Wednesday's 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 Wednesday, 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.
"This win tonight was a total team effort," Esmail said. "There wasn't one person on this team who didn't play a major impact in this win. We knew that if we wanted a chance to win this match, we would have to claw and fight and dig for everything out there, and that's exactly what we did. This is a great win for our program. We are looking forward to getting back after it this week, as we prepare for our next match versus Jacksonville State.”
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.
Final Results
Samford Season Stats
