Final Results
Updated Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Central - Live Stats
ELON, N.C. – For the third-consecutive season, the Samford University men's tennis team advanced to the championship match of the Southern Conference Tournament. This time, the second-seeded Bulldogs earned a 4-1 triumph over the third-seeded College of Charleston Cougars Saturday in a well-played semifinal contest held at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
With Saturday's victory,
Samford (14-9) swept both of its 2013 meetings with
College of Charleston (13-9) and advanced to face the top-seeded Elon Phoenix in Saturday's SoCon Tournament championship. Earlier this year, the Bulldogs played host to Elon in SoCon play on March 24 and dropped a hard-fought 5-2 decision at the Samford Tennis Center.
Since then, Samford has compiled a stellar 7-2 record and is in the midst of a three-match winning streak.
Sunday's SoCon title match will be held on Elon's home court at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center beginning at 1 p.m. (CDT). The winner will earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
In Saturday's 4-1 victory over College of Charleston, the Bulldogs won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead in the matchup.
Samford's combination of
Fares Kilani and
Alex Sajonz reeled off an 8-3 triumph on court No. 3, while the Bulldogs' No. 2 pairing of
Austin Akers and
Garrison Laduca secured the point with a 9-7 win over the Cougars' Sebastian Lopez and Crescente Lesser. With the key victory, Samford's duo of Akers and Laduca moved to 1-0 this season.
Early in singles play, College of Charleston evened the match at 1-1 as the Cougars' Alon Faiman earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court No. 6. The point would prove to be College of Charleston's last of the day, because Samford's Akers, Kilani and Sajonz swept the next three singles contests to secure the 4-1 win.
Akers, the Bulldogs' sophomore native of Lexington, Ky., cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the Cougars' Zack Lewis on court No. 5, while Kilani tallied a similar straight-set triumph over College of Charleston's Lesser, 6-2, 6-2.
With their respective victories, Samford's Akers and Kilani improved to 14-8 and 17-6 in singles play this season.
Not to be outdone, the Bulldogs' Sajonz extended his winning streak to nine-consecutive matches Saturday and improved his 2013 dual-match record to 15-8.
The Samford University men's tennis team will attempt to win its second SoCon Tournament title in three seasons Sunday as the Bulldogs face the homestanding Elon Phoenix at 1 p.m. (CDT) at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Two seasons ago, Samford swept College of Charleston, 4-0, in the SoCon championship final to reach the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Cougars returned the favor by defeating the Bulldogs, 4-0, in the SoCon title match.
Final Results
Updated Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Central - Live Stats
