Men's Tennis Falls On The Road At Tulane, 6-1

Wednesday, March 20

New Orleans, LA

1:00 PM

Samford University

Tulane

Junior Garrison Laduca notched Samford’s lone victory of the match at No. 6 singles.

3.20.13 | Men's Tennis

The Bulldogs’ Garrison Laduca notches Samford’s lone victory of the match at No. 6 singles

Final Results
Updated Samford Stats

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The 57th-ranked Samford University men's tennis team suffered a second straight road defeat Wednesday as the Bulldogs dropped a 6-1 decision to the Tulane Green Wave in a South Regional contest held at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center.

"I am extremely disappointed in our performance today,” said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. “Tulane is a very good team and they outplayed us in every aspect. If we want to continue to be successful, we need to bring a lot more to the table than we brought today.”

With the loss, Samford (7-6) completed its two-match, spring break road trip with an 0-2 record. On Monday, the Bulldogs fell short in a hard-fought 4-3 contest at Louisiana-Lafayette.

So far this season, Samford owns a 1-5 record when playing away from home. The Bulldogs' lone road victory this year was a historical 4-3 triumph against the No. 45-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Feb. 6. Samford's win over Alabama snapped a 52-year, 31-match losing streak in the series.

With Wednesday's victory, Tulane (10-4) extended its season-long winning streak to six-consecutive matches. 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, Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-3, and Samford, 6-1.

“There are no easy matches on our schedule for a reason,” Esmail said. “Today, some of us settled for mediocrity and this is unacceptable. With our schedule, we need to bring a level of intensity, energy and competitiveness each day if we want to be successful. The challenge is to see how we respond and see what we are made of. We will have the opportunity to rebound, and I am looking forward to see how this team responds."

Tulane swept the doubles competition versus Samford and then posted singles victories on the top five singles courts to claim its 6-1 team win.

Green Wave freshman Dominik Koepfer extended his singles winning streak to 14-consecutive matches Wednesday and remained undefeated this spring with a 14-0 record. Koepfer posted a 6-1, 6-1 win over Samford's Elliot Barnwell on court No. 2 to earn Tulane's second point of the afternoon.

Joe Young won for the second straight outing to clinch the match for the Green Wave. The senior defeated the Bulldogs' Fares Kilani, 7-5, 6-3, on court No. 3. Rodrigo Rappaccioli and Alex Van Cott also earned singles wins for Tulane.

Samford's lone point of the match was earned on court No. 6 as junior Garrison Laduca tallied a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (6) triumph over the Green Wave's Adam Bernstein. With his victory, Laduca improved to 6-6 in singles play this season and extended his team-best winning streak to four-consecutive triumphs.

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.

Admission is FREE to all Samford home tennis matches.

Final Results
Updated Samford Stats