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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University men's tennis team faced arguably its toughest test of the 2015 dual-match campaign Sunday as the Bulldogs came up short in a 4-0 decision against the No. 27-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in an early-season, non-conference contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
"We were able to accomplish some of our goals today by getting a better start in the doubles and playing with more energy from the start," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "We need to make this the standard though, and not the exception. Kentucky is a very good team and it was a great opportunity for us to test ourselves against a program that is consistently one of the top in the country."
 
Samford (2-5) has already faced one of its toughest pre-conference schedules in school history this season. The Bulldogs opened the spring with road tests at No. 36 Alabama and No. 28 Mississippi State, as well as key contests with Georgia State, UAB and Lipscomb.
 
In Sunday's home showdown against Kentucky (5-6), Samford looked strong in the doubles competition, but the Wildcats were able to rally for victories of 6-4 and 6-2 on courts No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
 
The Bulldogs fell behind, 1-0, after losing the doubles point and weren't able to make up any ground in singles play.
 
Kentucky, which finished the 2014 dual-match season with a 23-10 overall record and as the No. 15-ranked team in the nation, received straight-set singles wins from Jerry Lopez, William Bushamuka and Kevin Lai on Sunday against Samford.
 
With Bushamuka's 7-5, 6-3 win over Austin Akers on court No. 2, the Wildcats were able to secure the 4-0 road victory.
 
At 5-6 this season, Kentucky's record is misleading because it has already faced a brutal schedule in the past three weeks, playing five matches against opponents currently ranked among the top-17 in the nation.
 
"Playing teams like this, you can learn a lot," Esmail said. "Kentucky was able to expose weaknesses in our game that some other teams aren't able to expose. Overall, this weekend was a very positive weekend for us. We can take a lot out of it moving forward this week and getting ready for two tough matches on the road next weekend."
 
Samford will next be in action Saturday at 11 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Richmond, Kentucky, to square off against the Northern Kentucky Norse in a neutral site contest to be held at the Greg Adams Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University.
 
On Sunday, Samford will close out its time in Richmond with an 11 a.m. (CST) matchup with the homestanding Eastern Kentucky Colonels.

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