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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University men's tennis team closed out its 2014 home schedule in impressive fashion Saturday as the Bulldogs picked up a 6-1 Southern Conference triumph over the Georgia Southern Eagles in a Senior Day contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
"Today was a great team effort and a great win for us," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We emphasized before the match that one of our main goals was to get off to a good start in the doubles and a good start in the first sets of our singles matches, and we were able to do so across the board."
 
During Saturday's key SoCon matchup, Samford (7-9, 4-3 SoCon) honored senior Elliot Barnwell with a special Senior Day presentation.
 
Barnwell, the Bulldogs' highly-touted native of Mancetter, United Kingdom, proved to be victorious in both doubles and singles play. In the opening doubles round of action, he teamed with Trey Carter on court No. 1 and registered an 8-4 victory over the Eagles' combination of Oliver Webb and Kyle Hoffman.
 
In singles play, Barnwell also tallied a three-set triumph on court No. 1 against Georgia Southern's Webb, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4). With his victory, Barnwell earned his fifth-consecutive singles win and improved his dual-match record on the season to 11-5.
 
"Elliot was able to gut out a tight third-set tiebreaker on Senior Day and Liam did a great job holding his composure late in the second set to get that fourth point for us," Esmail said. "I am pleased with the win, but we need to get back to work on Monday in preparation for another tough match on Wednesday.
 
On Saturday, Georgia Southern (3-16, 2-5 SoCon) picked up its lone singles victory on court No. 6. The Eagles were also triumphant in the No. 3 doubles match.
 
Samford picked up the all-important doubles point and garnered an early 1-0 lead in the SoCon contest. The Bulldogs then added straight-set triumphs in singles play from Fares Kilani, Austin Akers and Liam Sullivan.
 
Kilani, Samford's dominant No. 2 singles player from Tunis, Tunisia, notched his second straight singles victory Saturday by defeating Georgia Southern's Kyle Hoffman, 6-1, 6-1. On the season, Kilani boasts a 9-7 record in dual-match play.
 
In the No. 3 singles contest, the Bulldogs' Carter recorded his fifth-consecutive win with a hard-fought three-set triumph against the Eagles' Marco Osorio, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
 
Samford's Akers improved to 6-9 with his quick victory on court No. 4, while Sullivan knocked off Georgia Southern's Albert Codina Sala, 6-3, 6-3, to move his dual-match singles record on the season to 8-7.
 
"We have a lot of positive momentum right now and we are starting to play well as a team at the end here, which is important," said Esmail. "We need to continue to work hard and improve and make sure that we continue to build on this momentum to get us better as a team down the stretch."
 
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs close out their regular-season schedule versus the Chattanooga Mocs in a road contest to be held at the UTC Tennis Center in downtown Chattanooga, Tenn.

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