Final Results
Updated Samford Stats
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Samford University men's tennis team suffered its first Southern Conference defeat in nearly two weeks Sunday as the Bulldogs had their four-match winning streak come to an end in a hard-fought 4-3 setback against the Furman Paladins held at Mickel Tennis Center.
"Today was a very competitive match from both teams,” said Samford head coach
Rahim Esmail. “We played with some great energy on some courts, which was great to see, but we came up a little short at the end. Furman played a great match overall. Our league is tough enough where if you let opportunities slip, then good teams will capitalize on it. Overall, both teams fought hard and played a great match."
With Sunday's loss,
Samford (11-8, 6-2 SoCon) suffered its first defeat since March 24 when the Bulldogs dropped a 5-2 decision against Elon. In road matches this season, Samford owns a 4-6 record.
Furman (7-12, 4-4 SoCon) won the doubles point Sunday, which proved to be critical factor in the outcome of the match.
The Bulldogs' doubles tandem comprised of
Alex Sajonz and
Fares Kilani cruised to an 8-3 victory over the Paladins' pairing of Jacob Behal and Tyler Droll on court No. 3, but Furman then rallied to take wins on courts No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
In the No. 2 doubles contest, the Paladins' duo of Alex Christ and Matt Browne earned the clinching victory by holding off Samford's
Elliot Barnwell and
Austin Akers, 9-7.
Despite losing the all-important doubles point Sunday, the Bulldogs bounced back with two quick straight-set triumphs in singles play to garner a 2-1 lead in the match.
Samford's Barnwell posted the first victory of the singles competition with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Christ on court No. 2, while Sajonz reeled off a 6-1, 7-6 triumph over Furman's Joel Cook in the No. 4 singles contest. With their respective victories, Barnwell improved to 12-7 in singles play and Sajonz moved to 11-8 this season.
Following the Bulldogs' wins from Barnwell and Sajonz, the teams traded singles points on courts No. 5 and No. 3 to give Samford a 3-2 road advantage.
Kilani, the Bulldogs' true freshman from Tunis, Tunisia, tallied Samford's triumph with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Furman's Browne on court No. 3. With the win, Kilani improved to 13-6 in dual-match play this season.
The Bulldogs held their 3-2 advantage over the Paladins briefly on Sunday, but Furman was leading in both of the last two three-set contest on courts No. 1 and No. 6. In the end, despite valiant attempts from Samford's
Zac Dunkle and
Garrison Laduca, the Paladins were victorious on both courts and tallied the 4-3 come-from-behind team win.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday at 11 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs conclude their late-season, three-match road swing against the Georgia Southern Eagles in a key SoCon contest to be held in Statesboro, Ga.
Final Results
Updated Samford Stats
