CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The second-seeded Samford men's tennis team dropped a hard-fought, 4-2 battle with top-seeded ETSU in the championship match of the SoCon Tournament Saturday at The Champions Club.
 
Samford ended its season with a record of 15-8. ETSU improved its record to 13-9, and the Bucs earned the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The season saw Samford post a 6-1 record in Southern Conference play and become nationally ranked for the first time in over a decade. Head Coach Oliver Reynolds said he was proud of all the team accomplished this season.
 
"Really for us, it was a year of adversity," Reynolds said of the season. "We were missing guys all year long. That was a major part of our whole team. We had a lot of guys that stepped up, a lot of guys that really gave us some incredible wins this year, when they weren't in the lineup for the start of the season. Becoming a nationally-ranked team for the first time in 12 years, that is something special for this group. They have raised the standard for this program, and I am super proud of these guys."
 
In doubles, Samford took the match at No. 1, with Maxwell Giddens and Sandeep Mohandoss defeating Milledge Cossu and Fracinso Lamas, 6-1. ETSU, however, won on the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles courts to capture the first point of the match.
 
In singles, at No. 2, Mohandoss earned a 6-4, 6-3 win over Cossu to tie the score at 1-1. At No. 6 singles, ETSU's Lucas Britez took a 6-3, 6-4 win over Santiago Arredondo to take a 2-1 lead. On the No. 3 singles court, ETSU's Peter Kalocsai defeated Darcy Nicholls, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 for a 3-1 Bucs advantage.
 
At No. 4 singles, Samford's Maksim Bogdanovich defeated Pedro Cressoni, 6-3, 6-4, to cut the ETSU lead to 3-2. The Bucs clinched the match on the No. 1 court, with ETSU's Dimitri Badra defeating Giddens, 6-0, 3-6, 6-0 to close out the 4-2 Bucs' win.
 
ETSU 4, Samford 2
Singles Competition
1.Dimitri Badra [ETSU] def. Maxwell Giddens [SAM], 6-0, 3-6, 6-0
2.Sandeep Mohandoss [SAM] def. Milledge Cossu [ETSU], 6-4, 6-3
3.Peter Kalocsai [ETSU] def. Darcy Nicholls [SAM], 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
4.Maksim Bogdanovich [SAM] def. Pedro Cressoni [ETSU], 6-3, 6-4
5. J.B. Pickard [SAM] vs. Francisco Lamas [ETSU], 2-6, 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
6. Lucas Britez [ETSU] def. Santiago Arredondo [SAM], 6-3, 6-4
 
Doubles Competition
1.Maxwell Giddens / Sandeep Mohandoss [SAM] def. Milledge Cossu / Francisco Lamas [ETSU], 6-1
2. Dimitri Badra / Adam Nagoudi [ETSU] def. Santiago Arredondo / J.B. Pickard [SAM], 6-2
3. Pedro Cressoni / Alberto Garcia [ETSU] def. Darcy Nicholls / Will Gray [SAM], 6-4
 
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