Samford Media Guide

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University women's tennis team will begin play in its 2013 Southern Conference schedule Saturday at noon as the Bulldogs square off against the Western Carolina Catamounts in a key league contest to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
Samford (5-4, 0-0 SoCon) heads into the matchup boasting a near-perfect 5-1 record when playing at home this season. Already this year, the Bulldogs have tallied home wins against Austin Peay, 7-0, Kennesaw State, 6-1, Mercer, 7-0, Jacksonville State, 4-1, and Southern Miss, 5-2.
 
On Wednesday, Samford played on the road at Mississippi State and dropped a 6-1 decision held at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.
 
Samford nearly won the doubles point against Mississippi State. The teams split the first two matches on courts No. 2 and No. 3, therefore the duel on court No. 1 became the deciding factor in the competition.
 
In a back-and-forth contest between two of the best doubles teams in the region, Mississippi State's No. 1 duo comprised of Alexandra Perper and Naomi Tran barely eked out a win over Samford's pairing of Kristin Lewis and Stephanie N'tcha, 8-7(6), to hang on for the doubles victory.
 
Mississippi State took the early 1-0 lead Wednesday via the doubles win and then received singles victories on courts No. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.
 
Samford's highly-talented true freshman Jessica Northcutt picked up the Bulldogs' singles triumph on court No. 3 as she upended Mississippi State's Naomi Tran, 7-5, 7-5. With her victory, Samford's native of Duluth, Ga., improved to 4-1 in singles play this season.
 
Western Carolina (1-3, 0-1 SoCon) enters Saturday's contest with aspirations of snapping a two-match losing streak. Since earning a 5-2 victory at Presbyterian on Feb. 10, the Catamounts have dropped back-to-back matches against East Carolina, 6-1, and UNCG, 7-0.
 
Western Carolina lost in its first conference match against UNCG on Sunday. The Catamounts entered singles play with five freshmen and only one senior, bu failed to pick up more than three points in a set.
 
The Spartans' Niltooli Wilkins defeated the Catamounts' No. 1 player Stacia Kissell, 6-3, 6-1, while Dilara Yurtkuran downed Karen Jimenez at the No. 2 spot, 6-3, in both sets.
 
Western Carolina's Sara Ruiz and Nicole Nielly dropped the No. 3 and No. 4 matches, while Shannon Bettiol and Erin Maguire were defeated at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. UNCG also won two of the three doubles matches, winning the No. 2 and No. 3 contests.
 
In last season's annual matchup between Samford and Western Carolina, the Bulldogs cruised to a 7-0 victory held in Cullowhee, N.C.
 
Samford swept all three doubles matches by identical scores of 8-1 to take an early 1-0 lead in the SoCon contest.
 
The Bulldogs then continued their dominance in singles play by earning straight-set victories on all six courts. In matches Nos. 4-6, respectively, Samford's Lindsey Mallory, Jessica Diamond and Emily Mallory all registered 6-0, 6-0 triumphs over their Western Carolina counterparts.
 
In the No. 1 singles contest, the Bulldogs' Madelie Janse Van Rensburg defeated the Catamounts' Ainhoa Iglesias Diaz, 6-1, 6-0, while Lewis defeated Megan McLinden on court No. 2, 6-1, 6-2, and Rebecca Kirven topped Karen Jimenez, 6-1, 6-3, in the No. 3 singles match.
 
Following Saturday's SoCon-opening contest against Western Carolina, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 10 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Appalachian State Mountaineers to the Samford Tennis Center for another key conference matchup.

Samford Media Guide