JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.  – After a 6-0 record in conference play, the Samford men's tennis team dropped a 4-0 decision to the ETSU Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex to close out the 2021 regular season.
 
BOX SCORE (PDF)
 
"ETSU is a tough team. They are very experienced and showed it today," said Head Coach Rahim Esmail. "They came ready to play and we came up short today. Looking forward to getting a good week of practice in this week and excited for next weekend."
 
The home side grabbed the first doubles win after Thiago Pernas and Juan Sebastian Zabala defeated Rossouw Norval and Mohammed Ali Bellalouna, 6-2, on court three. The Buccaneers then clinched the early point with Miguel Este and Dimitri Badra capturing a 7-5 victory over Samford's Tomas Santantonio and Eladio Fabregas on court two. Bulldog pair, Victor Chaw and Jim Hendrikx continued to battle their opponents, Juan Lugo and Frazier Rengifo, at the No. 1 spot, but the match would be marked as unfinished with the score at 5-4 in favor of Samford.
 
With the Bulldogs already facing a 1-0 deficit heading into singles play, Samford could not kickstart a comeback against ETSU, dropping matches on court one, two, and six for the Buccaneers to claim a 4-0 victory. Milo Bargeron recorded ETSU's second point after he locked in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Mohammed Ali Bellalouna at the No. 6 spot. The Buccaneers would advance their lead to 3-1 following a 6-4, 6-1 victory for Dimitri Badra against Rossouw Norval on court one. The match would officially be out of reach for Samford with Frazier Rengifo's 6-3, 7-5 win over Victor Chaw at the No. 2 spot.
 
Eladio Fabregas and Juan Lugo were not able to finish their match on court three, while opponents, Jim Hendrikx and Thiago Pernas, also went unfinished on the next court over. Tomas Santantonio was in the midst of a three-set battle against Miguel Este before the match was halted.

The Samford men's tennis team will now compete in the Southern Conference Tournament which will be held on Apr. 23-24 at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.

SAMFORD 0, ETSU 4
Singles Competition
1. #56 Dimitri Badra (ETSU) def. Rossouw Norval (SAM) 6-4, 6-1
2. Frazier Rengifo (ETSU) def. Victor Chaw (SAM) 6-3, 7-5
3. Juan Lugo (ETSU) vs. Eladio Fabregas (SAM) 4-6, 6-3, 1-1, unfinished
4. Thiago Pernas (ETSU) vs. Jim Hendrikx (SAM) 4-6, 6-5, unfinished
5. Miguel Este (ESTU) vs. Tomas Santantonio (SAM) 6-3, 5-7, 1-2, unfinished
6. Milo Bargeron (ETSU) def. Mohammed Ali Bellalouna (SAM) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles Results
1. Juan Lugo / Frazier Rengifo (ETSU) vs. Victor Chaw / Jim Hendrikx (SAM) 4-5, unfinished
2. Miguel Este / Dimitri Badra (ESTU) def. Tomas Santantonio / Eladio Fabregas (SAM) 7-5
3. Thiago Pernas / Juan Sebastian Zabala (ETSU) def. Rossouw Norval / Mohammed Ali Bellalouna (SAM) 6-2
 
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