Friday, March 7
Greensboro, N.C.
1:00 PM
Samford University
at
UNCG
Junior Austin Akers and the Bulldogs will square off against a pair of tough SoCon opponents this weekend in UNCG and Elon.
'Dogs Head To UNCG & Elon For Key SoCon Contests
3.6.14 | Men's Tennis
The Bulldogs are coming off a hard-fought 4-3 loss to Appalachian State on Sunday
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University men's tennis team will embark upon its first Southern Conference road trip of the 2014 campaign this weekend as the Bulldogs are slated to face the UNCG Spartans on Friday at 1 Â p.m. (CST) and then Elon at noon Saturday.
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Samford (2-6, 0-1 SoCon) heads into Friday's match against UNCG (6-2, 1-0 SoCon) looking to rebound from a hard-fought 4-3 home loss to Appalachian State on Sunday.
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In their hotly-contested league opener held at the Samford Tennis Center, the Bulldogs suffered a 4-3 loss to the Mountaineers in an early-season battle that came down to the final singles court.
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With its loss, Samford moved to 2-3 when playing at home this season, while Appalachian State extended its winning streak to two-consecutive matches.
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The Bulldogs came up short in Sunday's all-important doubles point as Appalachian State notched an early 1-0 advantage in the match.
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Samford's doubles combination of Austin Akers and Fares Kilani reeled off an 8-5 victory on court No. 3, but the Mountaineers were able to hang on to victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2 by respective scores of 8-5 and 8-2.
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With its win, the Bulldogs' tandem of Akers and Kilani improved to 5-2 in doubles play this season.
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Despite dropping Sunday's doubles point, Samford bounced back in singles play and received quick straight-set triumphs from Elliot Barnwell, Kilani and Liam Sullivan. With his solid 6-4, 6-1 victory on court No. 1, the Bulldogs' Barnwell improved his overall dual-match record to 5-3 this season.
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Following Samford's early resurgence in singles play, the Bulldogs battled back to even the score of the match at 3-3, as all eyes turned to court No. 4 and a battle between Carter and Appalachian State's Zach Bost.
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In the decisive match of Sunday's contest, the Mountaineers' Bost was able to outlast Carter for a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 marathon win as Appalachian State posted its 4-3 team victory.
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Following Sunday's singles results, Samford's Kilani improved to 4-4 in dual-match play, while Sullivan and Akers both moved to 3-4. The Bulldogs' Carter and Moore and now 2-6 and 1-7 this spring, respectively.
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UNCG enters Friday's contest riding the positive momentum of a six-match winning streak, with five of the victories being registered by dominant scores of 7-0.
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Since losing at No. 35-ranked NC State on Jan. 18, 7-0, the Spartans have rattled off consecutive wins against North Carolina Center, USC Upstate, UNC-Asheville, Gardner-Webb, Campbell and Chattanooga on Sunday.
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In UNCG's lopsided 7-0 SoCon-opening triumph over Chattanooga, the Spartans took an early 1-0 lead in the match after winning two of the three doubles contests.
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At No. 1 doubles, sophomore James Dougherty and junior Randy Phillips defeated John Peacey and Jorge Varon, 8-4, while sophomore Daniel Mack and senior Ahmet Sarioglu outlasted the Mocs' Gino Gdelavalle/Pavels Grigorjevs, 8-7 (7-4) in the tiebreaker on court No. 3 to clinch the doubles point. Â
In singles play, Mack dominated Boaz, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles to make it 2-0 UNCG. Junior Cameron Smith gave UNCG a 3-0 lead after defeating Brown, 6-1, 6-1.Â
Dougherty clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Grigorjevs at No. 2 singles. Sarioglu defeated Varon at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-3.Â
At No. 3 singles, Phillips won in straight sets against Delavalle, 6-4, 6-3 to push the Spartans lead to 6-0.Â
In the final match, Murray won a tight first set tiebreaker 7-6 (8-6) and cruised in the second set, 6-1, to complete the sweep against Peacey at No. 4 singles.
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In last season's annual matchup between Samford and UNCG, the Bulldogs used a strong performance in singles play earn a well-played 4-3 SoCon victory over the Spartans in a pivotal league contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
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Samford lost the doubles point last year, but rallied to notch four crucial wins in singles play.
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After the Bulldogs' Akers and Garrison Laduca cruised to straight-set victories on courts No. 5 and 6, respectively, Samford's
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Kilani came from behind to topple the Spartans' Randy Phillips in the No. 3 singles contest, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Kilani's triumph gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 advantage in the match.
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Samford's match-clinching victory occurred on court No. 2 as Barnwell battled to a 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2 win over UNCG's Dougherty.
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The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Friday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin a two-match conference road trip against the UNCG Spartans to be held in Greensboro, N.C.
Monday, April 28
Monday, April 28
Monday, April 28
Saturday, April 19
