BOX SCORE (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford men's tennis team earned its first win of the 2017 spring season, defeating Alabama State, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the Samford Tennis Complex.
 
"We did a good job today," Samford head coach Rahim Esmail said. "The guys worked hard to get our first win. We started the season with two tough matches on the road, which definitely helped us leading into our first match at home today. We did not play our best doubles point, but found a way to be solid when it counted. ASU is a scrappy team and made us earn the doubles point."

Samford won two of the three doubles matches to earn the first point of the match. The Bulldogs claimed the win at No. 2 doubles, with Max Rebol and Eduardo Lourido Sanchez defeating ASU's Tomas Fernandez and Carl-Louis Luckmann, 7-6.  On the No. 3 doubles court, Justin Ghavami and Curran Verma earned a 7-5 win over Karlo Skvorc and Szabin Pusztay, to give Samford a 1-0 lead.
 
In singles, Samford earned wins at No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6. Alabama State's lone win came on the No. 5 court.
 
"We did a very good job in the singles today," Esmail said. "We got off to a good start on the majority of the courts and this helped us throughout the match. Eduardo did a great job today, getting us our first win in singles and setting the tone for the rest of them. Max played with a lot of conviction today, in singles and doubles, and has done a great job so far by playing some confident and convincing tennis in our first three matches."

At No. 1 singles, Ghavami defeated Takura Mlambo, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Samford's Jake Faundez earned the win at No. 2 singles, defeating Ion Efrim, 6-2, 6-3. Lourido Sanchez defeated Fernandez, 6-2, 6-2 on the No. 3 singles court.
 
Rebol defeated Luckman, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. At No. 6 singles, Hugo Moreira defeated Skvorc, 6-1, 6-1.
 
With the win, Samford improves to 1-2 on the young season. Alabama State is now 0-1.
 
Samford will return to action on Friday, Jan. 27, when the Bulldogs host Charlotte. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the Samford Tennis Complex.   
 
Samford 6, Alabama State 1
 
Singles
1. Justin Ghavami (SAM) def. Takura Mlambo (ASU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
2. Jake Faundez (SAM) def. Ion Efrim (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Eduardo L. Sanchez (SAM) def. Tomas Fernandez (ASU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Max Rebol (SAM) def. Carl-Louis Luckmann (ASU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Szabin Pusztay (ASU) def. Curran Verma (SAM) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0
6. Hugo Moreira (SAM) def. Karlo Skvorc (ASU) 6-1, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Ion Efrim/Takura Mlambo (ASU) def. Jake Faundez/Hugo Moreira (SAM) 6-4
2. Max Rebol/Eduardo L. Sanchez (SAM) def. Tomas Fernandez/Carl-Louis Luckmann (ASU) 7-6
3. Justin Ghavami/Curran Verma (SAM) def. Karlo Skvorc/Szabin Pusztay (ASU) 7-5