Samford Media Guide
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The 61st-ranked Samford University men's tennis team will conclude play in its two-match spring break road trip Wednesday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs are scheduled to face off against the Tulane Green Wave in a pivotal South Region matchup to be held at the Goldring Tennis Center.
Samford (7-5) just had its three-match winning streak snapped Monday as the Bulldogs fell short in a 4-3 road decision against the resurgent Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns in a hard-fought nonconference contest held at the Cajun Courts.
With the loss, Samford suffered its first defeat of March and moved to 1-4 when playing away from home this season. The Bulldogs' previous setback was a 5-1 home loss to the sixth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Feb. 24.
Since then, Samford tallied consecutive victories against College of Charleston, 6-1, Eastern Kentucky, 7-0 and UNCG, 4-3, before falling to Louisiana-Lafayette on Monday.
In the matchup, the Ragin' Cajuns swept the doubles competition and then received three singles victories on courts No. 1, No. 5 and No. 2 to clinch the team win.
Samford received singles triumphs from
Fares Kilani,
Alex Sajonz and
Garrison Laduca on Monday, but couldn't overcome Louisiana-Lafayette's early 4-0 advantage. Despite the Bulldogs' three singles victories, they fell short in a final 4-3 nonconference decision held in Lafayette.
Kilani, Samford's talented true freshman from Tunis, Tunisia, earned a hard-fought 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win on court No. 3, while Sajonz breezed to a 6-2, 7-5 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns' Hunter Johnson in the No. 4 singles matchup.
With their respective wins, Kilani improved his team-best record in singles play to 9-3 this season, while Sajonz moved to 6-6.
The Bulldogs' final singles victory occurred on court No. 6 where Laduca outlasted Louisiana-Lafayette's Hunter Goertz, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5). With his three-set triumph, Samford's Laduca improved to 5-6 in singles play this season and earned his third straight victory.
Tulane (9-4) heads into Wednesday's contest sporting a season-high, five-match winning streak. Since falling at SMU on March 3, 4-3, the Green Wave has posted consecutive victories against College of Charleston, 6-1, UAB, 4-3, Youngstown State, 6-1, Nicholls State, 6-1, and at Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-3, on Saturday.
In its recent road victory over in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette, Tulane won the doubles point, while freshman Dominik Koepfer remained perfect in singles play this spring with his 13th victory. Adam Bernstein also claimed his fifth straight victory and Joe Young snapped a seven-match losing skid to clinch the match for the Green Wave.
Young defeated Louisiana-Lafayette's Edgar Lopez, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, on court No. 3. Bernstein got past Goertz, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, on court No. 6, while Koepfer won, 6-4, 6-1, over Jake Waynan on court No. 2.
Tulane's Young teamed with Ian Van Cott to clinch the doubles point on court No. 3 with an 8-5 win over Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson. The Tulane duo of Idan Mark and Koepfer got things started with an 8-2 win over Wynan and Edgar Lopez.
Following Wednesday's Southern Regional contest at Tulane, the Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 9 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs return to Southern Conference play against the Elon Phoenix in a key league battle to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
Samford Media Guide
