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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University men's tennis team picked up some valuable early-season momentum Wednesday as the Bulldogs earned a 5-2 victory against the UAB Blazers in a cross-town rivalry match held indoors at the Samford Tennis Center.

"Today was a total team effort," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We did a great job today, from start to finish. We played a very solid doubles point and did a great job at No. 2 to close it out. We did a pretty decent job at carrying the momentum into the singles matches, but where we really did a great job was about midway through the singles. Kilani and Akers, both gutting out tight second sets made a huge difference in the match. Those were key turning points for us in the singles I feel, as this gave the other courts a good boost."
 
With the win, Samford (1-4) bid adieu to its season-opening, four-match losing streak and improved to 1-1 when playing at home in 2015. Two of the Bulldogs' losses this year have come on the road against nationally-ranked opponents at No. 36 Alabama and No. 28 Mississippi State.
 
Samford will continue its three-match homestand Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) against Lipscomb.
 
The Bulldogs earned the all-important doubles point Wednesday by tallying victories on courts No. 2 and No. 3. UAB (2-4) garnered its lone win in doubles play on court No. 1 with a 6-4 triumph from the pairing of Mitchell Martell and Luiz Felipe Pinto.
 
Samford's victories were earned by the following tandems comprised of Henry Moore and Austin Akers on court No. 2 and Fares Kilani and Eduardo Lourido Sanchez in the No. 3 doubles matchup.
 
The Bulldogs' Kilani and Lourido Sanchez cruised to a 6-2 win on court No. 3, while Moore and Akers rallied to clinch the doubles point with a hard-fought 7-5 triumph over the Blazers' Christian Coetzee and Donovan McSeveney in the rubber match on court No. 2. Both of the aforementioned Samford doubles tandems improved to 2-2 on the season.
 
In singles play, Samford earned straight-set victories from Kilani, Justin Ghavami and Lourido Sanchez to solidify the Bulldogs' non-conference win Wednesday.
 
On court No. 1, Kilani held off UAB's Martell, 6-2, 7-6(4), while Ghavami registered a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over the Blazers' Pinto in the No. 4 singles contest. On court No. 5, Samford's Lourido Sanchez cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 win over UAB's Stepan Vancurick.
 
The Bulldogs' true freshmen Ghavami and Lourido-Sanchez both picked up the first dual-match singles victories of their career.

"I am very pleased with how the freshmen performed," Esmail said. "They played very relaxed and showed great composure throughout their matches. Justin did a great job towards the end of his match. He let himself play and that was a big key to his success. We were able to put what we are capable of doing as a team into "game day" today, and I am pleased with the way we competed. I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow to prepare for the weekend's big matches."
 
Samford's final singles win occurred Wednesday on court No. 2 as Akers fought off match-point en route to a thrilling 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, victory over the Blazers' McSeveney on court No. 2. With his triumph, Akers helped the Bulldogs secure the 5-2 decision.
 
On the season, Akers improved to 2-2 in No. 2 singles matches.
 
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Lipscomb Bison to the Samford Tennis Center for another pivotal non-conference contest.

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