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Samford StatsBIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University women's tennis team improved its 2015 home record to 6-2 on Saturday as the Bulldogs registered a momentous 5-2 Southern Conference victory against the Furman Paladins in the teams' league-opening showdown held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the victory,
Samford (7-7, 1-0 SoCon) notched its second straight triumph and won its third match in its last five outings. Since falling short against Tulane on March 14, the Bulldogs have tallied back-to-back victories over UMass, 4-3, and
Furman (4-11, 0-1 SoCon), 5-2.
Samford opened Saturday's match with a huge bit of momentum by grabbing the all-important doubles point.
After the teams split contests on courts No. 2 and No. 3, the Bulldogs' No. 65-ranked combination of
Stephanie N'tcha and
Carita Moolman notched a thrilling 8-7 triumph over Furman's duo of Alex Moreno-Kaste and Ansley Speaks to secure the doubles point and jump out to an early 1-0 team lead.
The Bulldogs' first victory in doubles play occurred on court No. 2 as
Yasmeen Ebada and
Jessica Northcutt topped the Paladins' Blair Martin and Alejandra Gil, 8-4.
Already this season, Samford's doubles pairing of N'tcha and Moolman owns a brilliant 9-3 record. Additionally, the Bulldogs' Ebada and Northcutt are 8-3 in dual-match play this spring.
Furman bounced back with a pair of victories in the singles competition, but Samford continued its stellar play and salted away its 5-2 SoCon win with triumphs on courts No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6.
The Bulldogs' N'tcha, Northcutt, Moolman and Wood all registered straight-set victories against the Paladins as Samford earned its league-opening tally.
On court No. 4, the Bulldogs' Moolman improved her dual-match record to 8-3 this season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Furman's Karlee Bryde.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Wofford Terriers to the Pete Hanna Center for another critical early-season league matchup.
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