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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Samford University women's tennis team will compete in its final nonconference match of the 2013 regular season Wednesday as the Bulldogs square off against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at 2 p.m. (CDT) at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center.
 
Samford (8-12) heads Wednesday's contest with aspirations of bouncing back from consecutive Southern Conference road losses to College of Charleston, 7-0, and Georgia Southern, 5-2. The Bulldogs have struggled on the road this season and own an 0-9 record when playing away from home.
 
In Sunday's setback at Georgia Southern, Samford swept the doubles competition, but was defeated by the Eagles in five of the six singles matches. With its performance in singles play, Georgia Southern was able to rally for the 5-2 Senior Day victory.
 
The Bulldogs dominated doubles play with wins from Kristin Lewis and Emily Mallory, Stephanie N'tcha and Jessica Northcutt, as well as Carita Moolman and Adri Lochner.
 
On court No. 1, Samford's combination of Lewis and Mallory defeated Georgia Southern's Paola Garrido and M. Phillips Smith, 8-5, while the Bulldogs' N'tcha and Northcutt topped the Eagles' tandem of Natalie Maffett and Stephanie Woods, 8-2, in the No. 2 doubles matchup. With their triumph, N'tcha and Northcutt extended their winning streak four-consecutive matches.
 
The Bulldogs' No. 3 pairing of Moolman and Lochner breezed to an 8-3 victory over Georgia Southern's Jordana Klein and Caitlin Kitchen to complete the doubles sweep Sunday.
 
In singles play Sunday, the Eagles were victorious on five courts, but Samford's Mallory tallied a key 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Georgia Southern's Kitchen in the No. 5 matchup. With her straight-set win, the Bulldogs' Mallory upped her singles record on the season to 12-6 and 6-3 against SoCon opponents.
 
Middle Tennessee (9-9) enters Wednesday match with a full head of steam after earning a 6-1 victory over Arkansas State on Sunday. The Blue Raiders own a 4-4 record at home this season and recently improved to 3-2 in Sun Belt Conference play.
 
In its Senior Day victory over Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee won two of the three doubles contests and picked up five singles wins to collect its third win over a Sun Belt opponent this season.
 
The Blue Raiders opened Sunday's doubles competition with an 8-3 victory from No. 2 duo Yuiri Nomoto and Flavia Nagayama over the Red Wolves' Tamara Slijepcevic and Jess Hepps-Eriksen. The tandem of Carla Nava and Alexandra Torres then helped the Raiders clinch the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over Biljana Miloshevska and Sofia Krsmanovic on court No. 3.
 
Early in singles play, Arkansas State evened the match at 1-1 when Slijpecevic picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win over Irina Constantinide in the top spot.
 
Middle Tennessee's Nagayama won her team-best 13th match with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Miloshevska at the No. 3 position, while Nayara Moraes snatched a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ioana Teu at the No. 4 position, giving the Blue Raiders their third point. Torres, a true freshman, then helped the Raiders clinch the match as she defeated Krsmanovic, 6-2, 6-2.
 
Both of Middle Tennessee's seniors, Nava and Nomoto, worked extra hard to pick up their wins against Arkansas State on Sunday. Nomoto dropped her first set to Nowland, 3-6, but then bounced back with a 6-2 win in set two and a 12-10 tie-breaking win. Nava won her third-consecutive contest with a 6-2, 5-7, 11-9 victory.
 
Last season, Samford and Middle Tennessee squared off in a dual-match opener held in Birmingham, Ala., and the Bulldogs registered a hard-fought 4-3 victory.
 
With the overall score of the match deadlocked at 3-3, Samford turned its attention to court No. 2 where the Bulldogs' Madelie Janse Van Rensburg outlasted the Blue Raiders' Nomoto, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Janse Van Rensburg's match-clinching singles win secured the victory for Samford.
 
The Bulldogs also received singles triumphs from Lewis on court No. 1, 6-3, 6-1, and Mallory in the No. 6 matchup over Middle Tennessee's Marietta Bigus, 7-5, 6-1.
 
In last year's matchup, Middle Tennessee recorded a trio of singles wins from Nagayama, Lexi Brand and Nayara Moraes. The Blue Raiders' victories occurred on courts No. 3, 4 and 5.
 
Samford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches. On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' combination of Lindsey Mallory and Lewis defeated Middle Tennessee's tandem comprised of Moraes and Nava, 8-4. Samford also received a doubles victory in the No. 2 matchup as Rebecca Kirven and Janse Van Rensburg defeated the Blue Raiders' duo of Bigus and Brand, 8-4.
 
With last season's victory, the Bulldogs pulled even in their all-time series against Middle Tennessee, 3-3.
 
Following Wednesday's nonconference showdown at Middle Tennessee, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Chattanooga for their regular-season finale against the Chattanooga Lady Mocs to be held at the UTC Tennis Center.

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