Box Score
Samford Stats

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The No. 71-ranked Samford University women's tennis team suffered its first defeat in nearly two months Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped a 4-3 decision on the road against the 68^th-ranked Furman Paladins in a Southern Conference showdown held at the Mickel Tennis Center.
 
With the hard-fought loss, Samford (12-2, 4-1 SoCon) had its season-best winning streak snapped at 10-consecutive matches. Both of the Bulldogs' losses this year have come against nationally-ranked foes in No. 21 Auburn and No. 68 Furman (11-5, 4-0 SoCon).
 
Samford entered Saturday's contest having rattled off consecutive triumphs against UTSA, 6-1, Jacksonville State, 7-0, UAB, 6-1, Appalachian State, 4-3, Western Carolina, 6-1, South Alabama, 5-2, Georgia Southern, 7-0, Charlotte, 6-1, Davidson, 6-1, and at UCF on Tuesday, 4-3.
 
With the victory, Furman extended its winning streak to four-consecutive matches and remained undefeated in SoCon play. Additionally, the Paladins improved their record at home this season to 7-0.
 
Samford lost the doubles point Saturday and then fell short in the first two singles matches as Furman jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.
 
Despite their initial disadvantage, the Bulldogs never lost heart and used singles victories from Yasmeen Ebada, Kristin Lewis and Emily Mallory to even the overall score of the team match at 3-3.
 
With their wins, Samford's Ebada improved to 12-1, Lewis moved to 8-6 and Mallory increased her dual-match record to 9-2.
 
The Bulldogs' Mallory notched a straight-set victory on court No. 5, 6-3, 6-4, over Furman's Kelly Sullivan to even the score at 3-3.
 
At that point, all attention turned to the No. 6 singles contest where Samford's Lauren Caballero was squaring off against the Paladins' Blair Martin. The winner of the matchup would secure a 4-3 team victory for her squad.
 
In a back-and-forth, hard-fought contest, Martin held off Caballero in the first set, 7-6(4), before earning a 6-3 win in the second stanza, 6-3.
 
Martin's singles victory on court No. 6 solidified Furman's 4-3 team win and handed Samford its first loss since Feb. 9. Despite Saturday's setback, the Bulldogs are still off to their best start in school history.
 
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 11 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Spartanburg for another key league matchup against the Wofford Terriers to be held at the John E. Reeves Tennis Center.

Box Score
Samford Stats