Final Results
Updated Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Bracket

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University men's tennis team closed out its regular-season schedule in impressive fashion Saturday as the Bulldogs cruised to a 7-0 Senior Day victory against The Citadel Bulldogs in a Southern Conference finale held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
“We came to play today and we did the work from top to bottom,” said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. “It was a great way to celebrate the work and the efforts that our seniors have put forth towards this program, by competing the way we did today.”
 
With Saturday's triumph, Samford (12-9, 7-3 SoCon) finished the 2013 campaign with an 8-2 record at home. The Bulldogs also registered their sixth shutout victory of the season. Earlier this year, Samford tallied similar lopsided wins against Jacksonville State, 4-0, Eastern Kentucky, 7-0, Davidson, 7-0, Chattanooga, 7-0, and Wofford, 7-0.

The Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed in next week's all-important 2013 SoCon Tournament. Samford received a first-round bye in the 11-team competition and will face either seventh-seed Davidson or 10th-seed Wofford at noon (CDT) on Friday.
 
The Citadel (7-13, 0-10 SoCon), which is coached by former Samford standout Oliver Reynolds, had its losing streak extended to four straight matches Saturday. Since earning back-to-back victories against Nebraska-Omaha, 6-1, and Coker, 6-3, the Cadets have dropped consecutive contests to Furman, 7-0, College of Charleston, 5-2, Chattanooga, 5-2 and Samford, 7-0.
 
In Saturday's home finale, the Bulldogs tallied doubles wins on courts No. 2 and No. 3 to take an early 1-0 lead in the contest.
 
Samford then received straight-set victories from Zac Dunkle, Elliot Barnwell, Fares Kilani, Alex Sajonz, Austin Akers and Garrison Laduca to post the lopsided 7-0 triumph.
 
Kilani, the Bulldogs' reigning SoCon Player of the Week, earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory over The Citadel's Peter Bleach to improve his team-best record in singles play to 15-6 and 8-2 against SoCon opponents. Samford's Akers moved to 13-7 on Saturday, while Barnwell and Sajonz both improved to 13-8 in dual-match play this season.
 
“We have a very special team this year,” Esmail said. “We have the capability to do some great things and we are all looking extremely forward to the opportunity that will be ahead of us this coming weekend at our conference tournament. This was a great way today, especially for us to enter next week on a positive note.”
 
The Samford University men'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.

Final Results
Updated Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Bracket