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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University men's tennis team opened its 2015 Southern Conference schedule in style Friday as the Bulldogs tallied a 5-2 victory against the UNCG Spartans in an early-league contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
"Today was a gutsy win," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "UNCG is a solid team and it's always a battle when we play them. Both teams fought hard today and we are happy to come out of here with a win."
 
With its victory, Samford (6-6, 1-0 SoCon) improved to 4-3 at home this season and tallied its sixth win in its last eight outings. The Bulldogs started the year with an 0-4 record, but have since outscored their opponents 36-16.
 
Samford dropped the doubles point against UNCG (4-6, 0-2 SoCon) and fell behind early 1-0.
 
"We showed a lot of resilience today, losing the doubles point and being down early at No. 1 and No. 2 singles," Esmail said. "Trey was able to give us some positive momentum by taking care of business in straight sets. I feel that it was a huge swing of momentum when Trey evened things up for us. We did a great job down low today of taking care of business and playing some confident tennis."
 
In singles play, Samford started its rally with a momentous 6-4, 6-4 win from Trey Carter on court No. 3. The Bulldogs' junior native of Birmingham proved to be one of four Samford players to earn straight-set victories.
 
Against UNCG on Friday, the Bulldogs' Justin Ghavami, Eduardo Lourido Sanchez and Jake Faundez also notched straight-set triumphs. Ghavami, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, clinched the match at No. 4 singles with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the Spartans' Cameron Smith.

On court No. 2, Samford senior Austin Akers registered a thrilling, three-set triumph over UNCG's Daniel Mack, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. With his win, Akers improved to 6-5 on the season.
 
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action March 28-29, as the Bulldogs travel to Johnson City, Tennessee, for a pair of matches against UNCG-Wilmington and ETSU. Samford will face UNCW on March 28 and then meet SoCon-foe ETSU on March 29.

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