Box Score
Samford Stats

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University men's tennis team turned in one of its gutsiest performances of the 2014 campaign Sunday as the shorthanded Bulldogs toppled the Wofford Terriers, 4-3, in a pivotal Southern Conference showdown held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
"Today was an absolute team effort," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "Every single member of our team had an impact on today's win. We showed a lot of fight, determination and a will to win, and those are things that our program will always stand for, no matter how many odds are against us."
 
Samford (6-9, 3-3 SoCon), which has been competing with only five healthy players for a predominant portion of the 2014 conference season, picked up its third victory in four matches Sunday, including its fourth in six contests dating back to March 13.
 
With its loss, Wofford (8-9, 3-3 SoCon) concluded its weekend road trip with a 1-1 league record. On Saturday, the Terriers knocked off the Chattanooga Mocs, 5-2, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
 
On Sunday, with the overall score of the match knotted at 3-3, Samford's Elliot Barnwell fought his way to a thrilling 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 singles triumph over Wofford's Rob Galloway on court No. 1. With his victory, Barnwell secured the Bulldogs' 4-3 team win and improved his team-best singles record on the season to 10-5.
 
Barnwell, Samford's hard-nosed senior native of Mancetter, United Kingdom, has now been victorious in four-consecutive singles matches for the Bulldogs.
 
Trey Carter has also won four straight matches in singles play. Samford's sophomore native of Birmingham, Carter breezed past the Terriers' Jackson Keith on Sunday, 6-0, 6-2. With his victory, he improved to 7-8 in dual-match play this season.
 
"The key factor for us today was just finding a way to win," Esmail said. "It was really important that we got out to a quick start after the doubles point. We did a great job out the gates on courts No. 4 and No. 5, and that played a huge part in momentum, getting us two quick wins in the singles."
 
After losing the doubles point, Samford quickly bounced back with straight-set singles victories from Carter and Liam Sullivan to even the score of the match at 2-2. Sullivan, the Bulldogs' true freshman from Richmond, Va., defeated Wofford's Parks Thompson, 6-0, 6-2, on court No. 5.
 
Samford's third win in singles play occurred on court No. 2 as Fares Kilani topped the Terriers' Haris Poric, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Kilani's momentous win kept the match alive for Barnwell as he closed out the Bulldogs' overall victory on court No. 1.
 
"We showed tremendous fight and resilience at the top of our lineup," said Esmail. "We dug deep for those matches and the work that we put in paid off. We have talked a lot about putting ourselves in a position to win, and we did just that today. Elliot is a senior who has been in those situations before and he did a great job gutting out and closing out that match. We are looking forward to another week of practice before we compete again, and conquering the challenges ahead of us."
 
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs close out their 2014 home schedule with a SoCon contest against the Georgia Southern Eagles to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.

Box Score
Samford Stats