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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- After receiving a first-round bye in this week's 2014 Southern Conference Tournament, the No. 73-ranked Samford University women's tennis team discovered who it will face in Thursday's quarterfinal matchup Wednesday as the No. 7-seeded Appalachian State Mountaineers topped No. 10-seed Western Carolina, 4-1, at the Champions Club.
 
Samford (18-2, 8-1 SoCon), which recently extended its winning streak to six-consecutive matches, enters the SoCon Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will square off against Appalachian State (9-15, 3-6 SoCon) on Thursday at 2 p.m. (CDT).
 
The Bulldogs are in the midst of their best season in school history and moved into the national rankings at No. 73 on Tuesday. On Saturday, Samford defeated the Chattanooga Mocs, 4-3, to complete the 2014 regular season with an unblemished 13-0 mark in home matches held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
In Saturday's win over Chattanooga, Samford earned the all-important doubles point and garnered an early 1-0 lead over the Mocs.
 
The Bulldogs' doubles tandem comprised of Kristin Lewis and Emily Mallory, as well as their pairing of Jessica Northcutt and Stephanie N'tcha both registered 8-3 victories on courts No. 1 and No. 3, respectively. Chattanooga won the match on court No. 2 after Samford secured the doubles point.
 
In singles play, four of the six matches came down to a third set.
 
Samford's N'tcha tallied a straight-set triumph on court No. 1, 6-4, 6-1, to complete the regular season with a brilliant 15-4 singles record, while the Mocs' Kelsey Coots proved to be victorious on court No. 4.
 
With the Bulldogs leading the match, 2-1, Chattanooga then bounced back to record a pair of three-set wins on courts No. 2 and No. 6.
 
Despite the Mocs' late resurgence, Samford never lost sight of its ultimate goal and posted thrilling three-set triumphs from Ebada on court No. 3 and Mallory on court No. 5.
 
Ebada, the Bulldogs' near-perfect junior from Cairo, Egypt, rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Alexa Flynn in the No. 3 singles contest, while Mallory dug deep to post a come-from-behind 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 win over Chattanooga's Claire Mulyadi on court No. 5. With their wins, Ebada improved to 18-1 this season and Mallory moved to 15-2.
 
Additionally on Saturday, Samford extended its home winning streak to 15-consecutive matches, dating all the way back to March 23, 2013.
 
The Bulldogs' only setbacks this season came against No. 21-ranked Auburn and No. 68 Furman, while Chattanooga's 2014 losses were to No. 27 Tennessee, No. 33 Memphis, Furman and Samford.
 
Appalachian State heads into Thursday's matchup will a full head of steam after picking up its fourth-consecutive victory Wednesday over Western Carolina, 4-1, in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament.
 
Since dropping a hard-fought 4-3 home loss to Elon on April 1, the Mountaineers have also tallied wins against Wofford, Western Carolina and Gardner-Webb.
 
Appalachian is led by Clare Cox, who earned Second-Team All-SoCon honors at the No. 1 spot in the lineup. Cox finished 10-11 in singles play during the regular season. Mackenzie LaSure is expected to play at No. 2 singles this week after posting a 6-12 mark during the season while Gabrielle Wreder is slated at No. 3 after finishing 9-14 as a freshman.
 
Brianna Armellino will play at No. 4 for the Mountaineers after compiling a 10-13 record while senior Jessica Thaggard will take the court at No. 5 after finishing a team-best 11-7 in her final season.
 
In doubles play, Appalachian State is expected to keep its normal lineup at all three spots. LaSure/Wreder went 3-10 at the No. 1 spot while McKayla Zupan/Cox posted a 4-3 record at No. 2 and Megan Mullen/Armellino finished with a 4-2 record at No. 3 doubles.
 
Earlier this year, Samford and Appalachian State squared off on March 1, as the Bulldogs earned a key 4-3 road victory in Boone, N.C.
 
In the annual regular-season matchup between the teams, Samford dominated the doubles play and swept the competition with lopsided scores of 8-3, 8-3 and 8-2.
 
After claiming the doubles point to garner an early 1-0 lead, the Bulldogs continued their momentum in singles play and quickly built a 3-1 advantage with victories from Ebada on court No. 3, 6-3, 6-2, and N'tcha on court No. 2, 6-3, 6-2.
 
Appalachian State's Cox tallied a victory on court No. 1, to trim Samford's overall lead in the match to 3-1, but then the Bulldogs' Lauren Caballero clinched the win at singles No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over McKayla Zupan.
 
After the match was decided, the Mountaineers tallied victories on courts No. 4 and No. 5, to make the final score, 4-3.
 
The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal showdown between Samford and Appalachian State will face either No. 3 Chattanooga or No. 6 Georgia Southern in Friday's semifinal contest, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m. (CDT) at the Champions Club.
 
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