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STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Samford University women's tennis team will face its fourth nationally-ranked opponent of the 2015 dual-match season Thursday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs challenge the No. 71-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in a highly-anticipated contest to be held at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
 
Samford (3-3) heads into the matchup looking to rebound from a 4-0 loss to No. 28-ranked Auburn on Saturday.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
In the key regional contest held at the Samford Tennis Center, the Bulldogs' school-record, 18-match home winning streak came to an end Saturday as Samford suffered a shutout setback in a non-conference contest held in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
Samford dropped its first home match in nearly two seasons against the visiting Tigers. The Bulldogs' winning stretch dated all the way back to March 23, 2013, against Furman.
 
Auburn won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, but it was the Bulldogs' doubles tandem comprised of Stephanie N'tcha and Carita Moolman that made history.
 
On court No. 1, Samford's pairing of N'tcha and Moolman defeated the highest ranked doubles opponent in school history as they toppled Auburn's No. 7-ranked duo of Emily Flickinger and Pleun Burgmans, 6-2. Last season, Flickinger and Burgmans earned All-America honors and advanced all the way to the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
With its victory, the Bulldogs' N'tcha and Moolman improved to 4-1 on the season and have been triumphant in four straight matches.
 
Auburn flexed its muscle in singles play and picked up straight-set wins on courts No. 2-4 to claim the 4-0 win.
 
On court No. 6, Samford's Savannah Wood was leading the Tigers' Jen Pfeifler, 6-3, 3-3, when the overall team match was clinched.
 
Mississippi State (6-1) enters Thursday's contest as the No. 71-ranked team in the nation. The Bulldogs are in the midst of three-match winning streak and have not been defeated since Jan. 25, when they suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 setback against No. 63 Dartmouth in their lone loss of the 2015 campaign.
 
Since falling to Dartmouth at the Ivy League Kick-Off Weekend in Hanover, New Hampshire, Mississippi State has rattled off consecutive lopsided decisions against UAB, 7-0, Winthrop, 7-0, and ETSU, 6-1.
 
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
In Saturday's neutral match victory over ETSU, which was held at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Mississippi State charged to a key 6-1 non-conference triumph.
 
Despite dropping the first set in two of their matches, the Bulldogs held off a feisty effort from ETSU to win their third-consecutive contest of the dual-match season.
 
Doubles play began in the Bucs favor on No. 1, as the Mississippi State duo of Martina Frantova and Naomi Tran fell, 6-1, to Lyn Yee Choo and Ana Gerbasi. However, the Bulldogs would respond by claiming the other two matches on courts No. 1 and No. 3.
 
Jasmine Lee and Georgiana Patrasc took a 6-3 decision at No. 2, while the duo of Jennifer Brown and Timea Guibe delivered the doubles clincher on court No. 3, battling back from 4-1 down for a 7-5 victory.
 
Freshman Louise Ronaldson would open singles play by claiming her fourth win of the season at the No. 4 slot, defeating ETSU's Melissa Esguerra 6-3, 6-1. Mississippi State's 77th-ranked junior Georgiana Patrasc would follow, taking 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 1 against Choo.
 
The rookie Lee would then clinch the match for the Bulldogs in impressive fashion, fighting back after dropping the first set, to take a 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 2.
 
Mississippi State continued to roll on court No. 3 where Frantova earned a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 (4) decision against Gerbasi. Guibe would follow with a gritty 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) victory at No. 6 over Ioanna Markensini, moving to 7-0 in dual-match play.
 
The Bulldogs were not able to preserve the shutout, however, as Brown battled in a very close third-set tiebreaker, but fell 6-4, 6-7 (0), 1-0 (10) at No. 5 to ETSU's Jessica Brumit.
 
SAMFORD'S N'TCHA GARNERS WEEKLY HONOR
Samford's N'tcha was named the Southern Conference's Women's Tennis Player of the Week Tuesday after the Bulldogs' senior netter registered a perfect 3-0 record in dual-match play last week. The honor was awarded by the SoCon league office for all matches played Feb. 9-15.
 
N'tcha finished the week with an unblemished 3-0 record and teamed with Moolman to register the biggest doubles victory in school history.
 
On Saturday at home against No. 28-ranked Auburn, the Bulldogs' combination of N'tcha and Moolman opened the competition in remarkable fashion by rolling past the nation's No. 7-ranked tandem of Flickinger and Burgmans, 6-2.
 
With the historic victory, N'tcha, Samford's senior native of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, finished 2-0 in doubles play last week. She also won her lone completed singles match by cruising past Jacksonville State's Olivia Nguyen on court No. 1, 6-2, 6-0.
 
WHAT'S COMING NEXT?
Following Thursday's key non-conference contest against No. 71-ranked Mississippi State, the Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to square off against the Lamar Cardinals in another non-league duel to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.

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