Box Score
Samford StatsJOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Samford University men's tennis team took its winning momentum to the next level Saturday as the Bulldogs rallied past the nation's 47
th-ranked UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, 4-3, in a thrilling non-conference contest held at the Buddy Hartsell Courts located on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
"Today was a great college match," said Samford head coach
Rahim Esmail. "Both teams competed extremely well and I'm pleased that we were able to gut it out. UNCW is a very good team and this was a great win for us. We found a way to find an extra gear and we definitely had to earn every single win that we had today."
With its victory,
Samford (7-6) extended its winning streak to three-consecutive matches and tallied its first triumph over a ranked opponent since Feb. 6, 2013, when the Bulldogs knocked off No. 51-ranked Alabama.
Samford has been playing some of its best tennis as of late and has been victorious in seven of its last nine outings. The Bulldogs have faced four nationally-ranked opponents this season and own a 1-3 record against some of the country's elite teams.
After falling short at home to Stetson on March 4, 4-3, Samford has compiled consecutive victories against Jackson State, 7-0, UNCG, 5-2 and
UNC-Wilmington (9-6), 4-3.
The Bulldogs dropped Saturday's doubles point against the Seahawks, but rallied back to take four of the six singles contests.
"The doubles could have gone either way today," Esmail said. "It's always tough to lose that opening point, but we did a great job to bounce back and get a good start in singles. We found a way today and that was huge."
Due to cold weather, Saturday's match was held indoors at the four-court facility.
In singles play, Samford was able to use early wins from
Austin Akers (court No. 2),
Trey Carter (court No. 3) and
Justin Ghavami (court No. 4) in the first wave of matches to garner a 3-2 lead in the contest.
The Bulldogs' Akers breezed to a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over UNC-Wilmington's Christiaan Van der Burgh, while Carter defeated Sam Williams in a three-set marathon, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, and Ghavami bested the Seahawks' Zach Hublitz, 6-3, 6-4.
Once Samford's built its 3-2 advantage, UNC-Wilmington answered with a victory on court No. 6 to even the score at 3-3.
With the match deadlocked, all eyes shifted to court No. 5 where the Bulldogs'
Eduardo Lourido Sanchez was battling with the Seahawks' Andres Torres. Samford's Lourido Sanchez lost the first set, 6-4, but then rebounded for victories of 6-4 and 7-5, respectively, in the final two sets to claim the win and secure the Bulldogs' thrilling 4-3 team triumph.
"Eduardo did a great job of staying composed today and playing convincing tennis to win," said Esmail. "This was a great team effort and we are looking forward to tomorrow's match."
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their 2015 Southern Conference schedule against the ETSU Buccaneers. The key early-season SoCon matchup will be held in Johnson City at ETSU's Buddy Hartsell Courts.
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