SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Samford University men's tennis team will play its third-consecutive match away from home Friday at 1:30 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to face the Wofford Terriers in a critical Southern Conference contest to be held at the Reeves Tennis Center.
 
Samford (7-7, 1-1 SoCon) heads into Friday's matchup with aspirations of bouncing back from a 5-2 loss at ETSU on Sunday. With the setback, the Bulldogs' three-match winning streak came to an end in an early-league showdown held at the Buddy Hartsell Courts.
 
Samford's loss proved to be its first defeat since March 4, when the Bulldogs fell short in a 4-3 loss to Stetson. Since then, Samford rattled off consecutive victories against Jackson State, UNCG and No. 47-ranked UNC-Wilmington, before losing to undefeated ETSU.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
ETSU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead Sunday by winning the doubles point. The Buccaneers tallied victories on courts No. 2 and No. 3 to clinch the competition.
 
In singles play, Samford earned a pair of straight-set wins from Trey Carter and Eduardo Lourido Sanchez on courts No. 3 and No. 5, but ETSU answered with victories on the remaining four courts to take the 5-2 decision.
 
Carter's dominant 6-3, 6-3 victory on court No. 3 helped him improve to 7-6 in singles play this season, while Lourido Sanchez moved to 6-6 when playing in the No. 5 singles position.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Wofford (9-11, 2-1 SoCon) enters Friday's match with hopes of bouncing back from back-to-back SoCon losses to ETSU, 4-1, and Mercer, 4-3.
 
Against the Bears on Saturday, senior Rob Galloway led the way for the Terriers, earning a 2-0 record in the day's matches. The Greenville, South Carolina, native kicked off the day with a win at doubles, pairing at No. 1 with classmate Walker Heffron for an 8-5 win over brother-duo Arnav and Arsav Mohatny.
 
Galloway continued to excel in singles play, blanking Oliver Snaider in the second set, 6-2, 6-0, for a team-high 13th win this season.
 
Mercer jumped out to an early lead by taking the doubles point. After Galloway and Heffron's win at No. 1, the Bears took the remaining matches by a collective three games. Sophomore Haris Poric and junior Trevor Gotkowski faced an 8-7 setback at No. 2 before an 8-6 loss at No. 3 from junior classmates David Sklar and Parks Thompson sealed the Mercer point.
 
In singles, the Bears doubled their lead early, as Trevor Gotkowski fell at No. 6, 6-1, 6-1. Galloway earned the next win before Sklar fell at No. 5, 6-2, 6-0.
 
Freshman Parks Schoen brought it within one team point for Wofford by earning a big win at No. 4, defeating Anderson Scarpa in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
 
The final two singles matches went three sets as Heffron was defeated 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 3 before Poric went on to top Arnav Mohatny in tiebreaker action at No. 2, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6.
 
Prior to dropping matches against both ETSU and Mercer last week, Wofford was winners of four-consecutive contests, including key victories over Chattanooga, Lamar, Davidson and The Citadel.
 
IN THE LAST MEETING
Last season, Samford turned in one of its gutsiest performances of the 2014 campaign as the shorthanded Bulldogs toppled Wofford, 4-3, in a pivotal SoCon showdown held at the Samford Tennis Center.
 
Samford, which had been competing with only five healthy players for a predominant portion of the 2014 conference season, picked up its third victory in four matches against the Terriers, including its fourth in six contests.
 
With the overall score of last season's match knotted at 3-3, Samford's Elliot Barnwell fought his way to a thrilling 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 singles triumph over Wofford's Galloway on court No. 1. With his victory, Barnwell secured the Bulldogs' 4-3 team win.
 
Carter breezed past the Terriers' Jackson Keith, 6-0, 6-2.
 
After losing the doubles point, Samford quickly bounced back with straight-set singles victories from Carter and Liam Sullivan to even the score of the match at 2-2. Sullivan defeated Wofford's Parks Thompson, 6-0, 6-2, on court No. 5.
 
Samford's third win in singles play occurred on court No. 2 as Fares Kilani topped the Terriers' Haris Poric, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Kilani's momentous win kept the match alive for Barnwell as he closed out the Bulldogs' overall victory on court No. 1.
 
COMING UP NEXT
Following Friday's key test at Wofford, the Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their four-match SoCon road stretch in Greenville, South Carolina, against the Furman Paladins in a huge league contest slated to be held at the Minor Herndon Mickel Tennis Center.