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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Samford University women's tennis team will conclude play in its 2013 regular-season schedule Saturday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs meet the Chattanooga Lady Mocs in a Southern Rail Rivalry showdown to be held at the UTC Tennis Courts.
Samford (8-13, 3-6 SoCon) heads into the contest with aspirations of snapping a three-match losing streak. Since earning back-to-back home victories against Wofford, 7-0, and Davidson, 5-2, on March 24 and 29, respectively, the Bulldogs have dropped consecutive road matches to College of Charleston, 7-0, Georgia Southern, 5-2, and Middle Tennessee, 4-3.
In Wednesday's heartbreaking loss at Middle Tennessee, Samford won the doubles point, but fell short in singles matches on courts No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 in the 4-3 road defeat. With their loss, the Bulldogs dropped to 0-10 when playing away from home this season.
The Blue Raiders clinched the nonconference win at No. 5 singles where Carla Nava rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Samford's
Emily Mallory.
Samford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead over Middle Tennessee by posting doubles triumphs on courts No. 1 and No. 3.
In the No. 1 doubles contest, the Bulldogs' tandem comprised of
Kristin Lewis and Mallory earned an 8-4 victory over their Blue Raider counterparts, while Samford's No. 3 pairing of
Carita Moolman and
Adri Lochner notched a similar 8-4 win over Middle Tennessee's Alexandra Torres and Nava.
The Bulldogs secured the all-important doubles point Wednesday, but quickly found themselves in a 2-1 hole in singles play as the Blue Raiders posted straight-set wins on courts No. 3 and No. 1.
Despite Middle Tennessee's early rally in singles, Samford bounced back with wins of its own from Moolman and
AnnMarie Lyon to take a 3-2 advantage. Moolman, the Bulldogs' true freshman native of Aranos, Namibia, earned a come-from-behind 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over the Blue Raiders' Nayara Moraes on court No. 4, while Lyon defeated Alexandra Torres, 6-3, 7-6(2), on court No. 6.
Middle Tennessee rallied for the late 4-3 victory with singles wins on courts No. 2 and No. 5 from Yuiri Nomoto and Nava, respectively.
Chattanooga (16-4, 5-4 SoCon) enters Saturday's Senior Day contest looking to bounce back from a 5-2 road defeat at College of Charleston on Sunday.
In their hard-fought loss, the Lady Mocs won the doubles point, but could only manage one singles win in the contest.
Chattanooga's Alexa Flynn and Kelsey Coots came into the match with a 6-0 record at No. 2 doubles. They moved up to No. 1 against College of Charleston on Sunday and scored a dominating 8-1 win over Kelly Kambourelis and Jenny Falcone.
Cristin Newman and Samantha Maddox then responded for College of Charleston with an 8-3 win over the Mocs' Jenna Nurik and Jovana Pecovski at No. 2. Chattanooga later clinched the doubles point with Kayla Jones and Katie Polk's 8-6 win over Irene Viana and Olivia McMillan at No. 3.
Heading into Sunday, the Lady Mocs had not lost a match after winning the doubles point all season, but were without two starters for singles play in sophomore Kaylene Chadwell and Claire Mulyadi.
Chattanooga's Flynn scored the only singles win after moving up to No. 3. She defeated Brooke McAmis (6-3, 7-5) for her seventh-straight win. Flynn is 11-2 in the spring, 6-2 in SoCon matches and 16-8 overall. Jones was the only Lady Moc to push her match to three sets. She lost to Kambourelis (0-6, 6-4, 6-3) at No. 2.
Last season, Samford and Chattanooga squared off twice, with each team earning a victory.
The Bulldogs defeated the Lady Mocs in last year's regular-season finale with a 5-2 triumph at home in Birmingham, Ala. Chattanooga then bounced back with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory in the opening round of the 2012 SoCon Tournament, which was held in Chattanooga.
Following Saturday's regular-season finale at Chattanooga, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Thursday in Elon, N.C., as the Bulldogs begin play in the all-important 2013 SoCon Tournament to be held at the Powell Tennis Center. The seeding for next week's four-day tournament has yet to be determined.
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Samford Media Guide