Samford Media Guide

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Samford University women's tennis team will begin play in its three-state, four-match, regular season-ending road trip Saturday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the College of Charleston Cougars in a key Southern Conference contest to be held at the Patriots Point Tennis Center.
 
Samford (8-10, 3-4 SoCon) heads into the matchup with a full head of steam after posting back-to-back home victories against Wofford, 7-0, and Davidson, 6-1.
 
With last week's triumph over Davidson, the Bulldogs improved to 8-3 when playing at home this season.
 
Samford won the doubles point against the Wildcats and then received singles triumphs from Kristin Lewis, Stephanie N'tcha, Jessica Northcutt, Emily Mallory and AnnMarie Lyon en route to the lopsided 6-1 team victory.
 
Four of the Bulldogs' five singles victories came in straight sets. On court No. 1, Samford's two-time All-SoCon performer Lewis recorded a 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 over Davidson's Brites Moniz-Soares. With her win, the Bulldogs' talented junior from Odenville improved to 10-7 in singles play this season.
 
Also victorious last week, the Bulldogs' Mallory upped her record in dual-match play to 11-5, while Ntcha moved to 11-6 in singles play.
 
Samford has played its last three matches at home in Birmingham, Ala., but will now close out its regular-season schedule with road contests at College of Charleston (13-8, 5-1 SoCon), Georgia Southern, Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga. The Bulldogs have not been victorious on the road this year and own an 0-7 record when playing away from the Samford Tennis Center.
 
College of Charleston enters Saturday's contest as one of the hottest teams in the SoCon. The Cougars are in the midst of a two-match winning streak and have been victorious in six of their previous seven outings.
 
On March 29, College of Charleston blasted first-place UNCG, 7-0, and recently handed Furman its first SoCon loss of the 2013 season.
 
Against Furman on Wednesday, the College of Charleston got off to a tough start in doubles play when Furman took two of the three matches. Only the Cougars' duo of senior Irene Viana and freshman Brooke McAmis claimed a win via an 8-3 score over Margaret Boyette and Kelly Sullivan of the Paladins.
 
College of Charleston junior Kelly Kambourelis got the Cougars going back in the right direction with a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Alex Moreno-Kaste of Furman in No. 2 singles. McAmis kept fighting through an elbow injury to emerge with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Katherine Oudin of the Paladins on Court 3 to bring the match score to 2-1.
 
College of Charleston sophomore Jenny Falcone then kept the momentum going with a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Michele Stanford of Furman at the No. 3 line.
 
Finally, with the Cougars leading the match, 3-1, senior Christin Newman closed out the match with a 7-5, 6-4 result over Lauren Kline in the No. 1 slot to clinch the victory for College of Charleston.
 
Last season, Samford and the Cougars met in Birmingham, Ala., as the Bulldogs' home winning streak came to an end at 13-straight matches.
 
With the 6-1 loss, the Bulldogs dropped their first home match in nearly a year, dating back to March 27, 2011, in a hard-fought 4-3 defeat against Furman.
 
In last season's matchup, Samford battled back to clinch the doubles point and took an early 1-0 lead against College of Charleston.
 
In the No. 1 doubles contest, the Bulldogs' tandem comprised of Lewis and Lindsey Mallory rallied for an 8-6 triumph against the Cougars' pairing of Jamie Harrell and Viana. Samford's duo of N'tcha and Adri Lochner then clinched the all-important doubles point by tallying a thrilling 9-7 win on court No. 3.
 
The Bulldogs led last year's SoCon-opening match by a score of 1-0 after doubles play, but fell short in all six singles contests as College of Charleston posted its final 6-1 victory.
 
Following Saturday's SoCon showdown with College of Charleston, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs are slated to meet the Georgia Southern Eagles in another critical SoCon contest to be held in Statesboro, Ga.

Samford Media Guide