Saturday, April 19
Chattanooga, Tenn.
1:00 PM
Samford University
2
vs
4
Elon (SoCon Championship)
The Samford women's tennis team concluded its 2014 season with a stellar 20-3 overall record.
Bulldogs Fall Short To Elon In SoCon Championship
4.19.14 | Women's Tennis
Samford completes its 2014 season with a school-record 20-3 mark
Box Score
Final Samford Stats
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The No. 73-ranked Samford University women's tennis team lost a tough decision in the doubles contest Saturday, and could never recover in singles play as the Bulldogs dropped a heartbreaking 4-2 decision against the Elon Phoenix in the championship match of the 2014 Southern Conference Tournament.
With the loss, Samford (20-3) suffered its first defeat since March 29 and had its eight-match winning streak snapped. The Bulldogs' 2014 campaign proved to be their best in school history and only the second time that Samford reached the prestigious 20-win plateau.
Elon (15-8), the fourth-seeded team in this year's SoCon Tournament, concluded its improbable rise to the championship title Saturday by defeated the No. 1-seed and No. 2-seed in back-to-back matches. On Friday, the Phoenix knocked off No. 61-ranked Furman, 4-3.
In Saturday's SoCon showdown, Elon won the doubles point and then received singles victories from Frida Jansaker, Barbora Lazarova and Maria Camara Ruiz to earn the closely-contested 4-2 team win.
With Elon holding a 3-2 advantage, Samford's Yasmeen Ebada and Emily Mallory were battling their Phoenix counterparts on courts No. 3 and No. 5, respectively. Both Ebada and Mallory proved to be victorious in the first sets of their matches, while Elon charged back to take the second sets in each battle.
The Phoenix clinched its fourth point of the match on court No. 5 as Ruiz posted a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, win against Mallory to make the final score 4-2.
With the loss, Mallory finished the season with an impressive 16-3 record, but had her 10-match winning streak snapped Saturday.
In singles play, Samford's victories came at No. 1 from Stephanie N'tcha and at No. 6 from Lauren Caballero. N'tcha, the Bulldogs' talented junior from Abomey-Calavi, Benin, cruised past Elon's Jordan Johnston, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 1 matchup to finish the season with an 18-4 singles record.
Samford's Caballero defeated the Phoenix's Tolley Rice, 6-3, 7-5, on court No. 6 to improve her dual-match record to 13-4 in 2014.
On court No. 3, the match was never completed with the conclusion of play on court No. 5. Samford's Ebada closed out the season with a brilliant 20-1 singles record.
In Saturday's all-important doubles point, it all came down to the match on court No. 2 where Elon's combination of Jansaker and Ruiz held off a late rally from the Bulldogs' Yasmeen Ebada and Carita Moolman, 8-7 (4).
Despite trailing 7-6 in the contest, Samford doubles tandem battled back to force the tiebreaker, but the Phoenix proved to be most error-free team in the matchup as they notched a 7-4 victory in the extra frame.
The Bulldogs' Ebada and Moolman moved to 8-2 on the season as Elon clinched the doubles point and garnered an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Early in doubles play, the Phoenix struck first with an 8-5 victory on court No. 1. The pressure then shifted to the Bulldogs' No. 3 tandem comprised of N'tcha and Northcutt, which notched a crucial 8-6 win over Elon's pairing of Taylor Casey and Bryn Khoury. With their triumph, Samford's N'tcha and Northcutt improved their record on the season to 7-1.
The Bulldogs' hard-fought loss in doubles play Saturday marked only their sixth setback to open a match all season long. The others for Samford this season were at No. 21 Auburn, South Alabama, at UCF, at No. 68 Furman and versus Troy on April 9.
The 2014 Samford women's tennis team turned in the best season in school history with a stellar 20-3 overall record. Next year, the Bulldogs will be without the talents of graduating seniors Kristin Lewis and Mallory, but will return the remainder of its roster for the 2015 dual-match season.
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Box Score
Final Samford Stats
Monday, April 28
Monday, April 28
Monday, April 28
Saturday, April 19
