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GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The regular-season champion and top-seed Samford University women's tennis team cruised to a quick 4-0 victory against the Mercer Bears on Friday in the opening match of the 2015 Southern Conference Tournament being held at the Mickel Tennis Center on the campus of Furman University.
 
With the victory, Samford (14-8) extended its winning streak to four-consecutive matches and improved to 8-0 against conference opponents this season. The Bulldogs advanced to the semifinal round of the three-day, eight-team tournament and will face No. 4-seed Furman on Saturday at 9 a.m. (CDT).
 
Samford rolled to its 4-0 triumph over Mercer (4-18) on Friday by winning the doubles point and then receiving straight-set singles victories from Jessica Northcutt, Iva Parapunova and Savannah Wood.
 
The Bulldogs' shutout win proved to be its fourth straight.
 
Samford has not surrendered a point since April 8 in a non-conference matchup against Troy. Since then, the Bulldogs have rattled off consecutive dual-match sweeps against UNCG, 7-0, Western Carolina, 7-0, Chattanooga, 7-0, and Mercer, 4-0.
 
Samford dominated Friday's doubles competition and claimed the match's initial point by posting identical 8-0 wins on courts No. 1 and No. 2.
 
In the No. 1 doubles contest, the Bulldogs' First-Team All-SoCon combination of Stephanie N'tcha and Carita Moolman defeated Mercer's pairing of Roxy Bartz and Grace Korta, 8-0. With the victory, Samford's N'tcha and Moolman extended their winning to four-consecutive matches and improved to 15-5 on the season.
 
The Bulldogs' No. 2 tandem of Yasmeen Ebada and Northcutt tallied its 10th-consecutive triumph Friday by defeating the Bears' duo comprised of Xandra Fougner and Haley Powell, 8-0. Ebada and Northcutt have not been defeated since Feb. 27 and improved their record on the season to 15-3.
 
In singles play, Samford's Northcutt extended the Bulldogs' advantage to 2-0 by earning a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Bartz on court No. 3.
 
All-SoCon Freshman Team member, Wood, then gave Samford a 3-0 lead by defeating Laura Kelly in the No. 6 singles matchup, 6-1, 6-2. Northcutt improved her record on the season to 12-9, while Wood moved to 13-5.
 
The Bulldogs clinched their first-round SoCon Tournament victory Friday in the No. 5 singles contest as Parapunova topped Mercer's Liza Klyachkin, 6-1, 6-3. With her win, Parapunova improved to 10-9 in singles play this season.
 
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Saturday at 9 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the homestanding Furman Paladins in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament, which is being held at the Mickel Tennis Center on the campus of Furman University.
 
Earlier this season, Samford played host to Furman on March 28 and earned a 5-2 victory over the Paladins.

Box Score
Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Central