BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The No. 71-ranked Samford University women's tennis team will continue play in its early-season, four-match homestand Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome their intra-city rivals, the UAB Blazers, to the Samford Tennis Center for a key non-conference showdown.
 
Samford (1-2) heads into the contest riding a wave of positive momentum after rolling to a lopsided 7-0 non-conference victory against Kennesaw State on Jan. 31.
 
The Bulldogs swept all three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 advantage over the Owls last week. In the contest, Samford's combination of Stephanie N'tcha and Carita Moolman cruised to a 6-2 triumph on court No. 1, while the Bulldogs' duo comprised of Yasmeen Ebada and Jessica Northcutt set the tone early with a 6-1 victory in the No. 2 doubles contest.
 
On court No. 3, Samford's pairing of Savannah Wood and Iva Parapunova registered a similar 6-1 win over the Owls' tandem of Abbie Grant and Christina Martin.
 
In singles play, the Bulldogs quickly extended its lead to 3-0 with quick straight-set victories on courts No. 6 and No. 5.
 
On court No. 5, Samford's Parapunova dazzled the crowd with a brilliant 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Kennesaw State's Martin. With her victory, the Bulldogs' junior transfer from Montana State improved to 1-0 on the season. Moolman, a junior native of Aranos, Namibia, defeated the Owls' Gabriela Bueno, 6-0, 6-1, in the No. 6 singles matchup.
 
Samford also picked up straight-set victories in singles play on courts No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4. Ebada earned a 7-5, 6-2 win on court No. 2, while Northcutt posted a 6-1, 7-5 triumph on court No. 3 and Wood steamrolled Kennesaw State's Isabela Castro on court No. 4.
 
On court No. 1, Samford's N'tcha battled back to defeat the Owls' Virginie Stein in the closest match of the day, 4-6, 7-5, 10-7.  N'tcha improved to 1-2 in singles play this season with the victory.
 
UAB (1-2) enters Saturday's contest in a similar position as the Bulldogs. The Blazers enter the match with an identical 1-2 record and with a 6-1 victory over Kennesaw State on Sunday.
 
In UAB's home win against the Owls, the Blazers began the day with two doubles wins to claim the early point. Rachel Daniell and Catherine Ragon defeated Alexandra Mercado and Castro from Kennesaw State, 6-2, on court No. 3 before Amy Lowther and Elaine Simon took down the Owls' Martin and Grant, 6-3, at the No. 2 position.
 
With the doubles point in hand, UAB then won at six of the seven singles courts to claim its first win of the season. Pardis Kianoush, Simon, Ragon and Paula Castro each won in straight sets at the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 spots, while Amy Lowther ousted Martin, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 at the No. 5 court.
 
UAB's only singles loss came at the top spot where Stein defeated Daniell, 6-2, 7-6 (3) on court No. 1.
 
Last season, Samford earned a 6-1 home victory against UAB on Feb. 26. In their win, the Bulldogs quickly tallied the first point of the match in doubles play by registering 8-3 and 8-1 triumphs on courts No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
 
In singles action, Samford's Ebada, Northcutt and Emily Mallory all tallied quick straight-set victories to solidify the Bulldogs' overall team win at 4-0.
 
From that point on, Samford's Kristin Lewis and N'tcha both tacked on three-set wins to ultimately record the Bulldogs' final 6-1 triumph.
 
Following Saturday's cross-town showdown against UAB, the No. 71-ranked Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs welcome the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to the Samford Tennis Center for another pivotal in-state matchup.