Samford 6, Murray State 1
Samford 6, Gadsden State 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford men’s tennis team earned a pair of lopsided victories against non-conference opponents Sunday as the Bulldogs defeated the Murray State Racers 6-1 and then streaked to a 7-0 decision versus the Gadsden State Cardinals in the nightcap. Both matches were held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With its pair of wins, Samford (4-9) snapped a two-match losing streak and improved to 3-3 when playing at home this season.
The Bulldogs will resume Southern Conference play Tuesday at 2 p.m., against the Georgia Southern Eagles. The upcoming conference contest will be Samford’s seventh-consecutive home match.
In their 6-1 victory versus Murray State (3-6) on Sunday, the Bulldogs swept all three doubles matches and won five of the six singles competitions. Samford’s Richard Walsh won the closest singles match of the day as he held off Murray State’s Ben Clos, 7-5, 7-5, on court No. 1.
Samford earned its first 7-0 victory of the season against Gadsden State (3-4).
In the dominating win, the Bulldogs again swept all three doubles matches and went on to tally straight-set victories in all six singles contests. On court No. 3, Samford’s Carson Kadi bageled Gadsden State’s Lucas Lampkin, 6-0, 6-0, in singles play, while junior Kelwin DeWet posted a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Cullen Rusk on court No. 2.
Samford’s Brian Dushock, Kadi and Walsh all finished with 2-0 records in singles play Sunday. The Bulldogs’ Carl Abalos, Oliver Reynolds, Adam Witcher, Joe Hunsicker and DeWet all tallied 1-0 records.
The Samford men’s tennis team will next be in action Tuesday at 2 p.m., as the Bulldogs continue their nine-match homestand with a Southern Conference duel against the Georgia Southern Eagles to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
South Alabama 4, Georgia Southern 1
MOBILE, Ala. ? The Georgia Southern men’s tennis team suffered a tough 4-1 loss at No. 75 South Alabama Sunday afternoon (March 15). Inclement weather forced a delayed start to the match and ended two singles matches early, but the Jaguars managed to hand the Eagles only their third loss of the season as they dropped to 5-3 overall. USA improved to 7-7 with the win.
A sweep of the doubles matches gave the Jags the early advantage before singles action got underway. A quick decision at the three seed put USA on the board, but the Eagles battled hard at the one and two seeds. Dauw Kruger and Leo Dominguez narrowly upended juniors Justin Flynn and Jayraj Jadeja, 8-5, to clinch the one point lead from the two position moments before the Jags completed the doubles sweep at the one seed. The senior Eagle tandem of Joris De Weerdt and Matthew Sands pushed Romain Bocaert and Hanno Bartsch to the core, but a break secured the 8-6 victory for USA.
Kruger widened the Jags’ margin to 2-0 with a win at the six seed before Georgia Southern took its lone point of the match. Freshman Alain Garrido shined from the four seed surrendering only three games en route to a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Aaron Krisan. But USA quickly secured the match win with consecutive victories at the two and three seeds, respectively. Rain cut the last two matches on the court short, leaving the score at 4-1 USA.
Georgia Southern returns to action and Southern Conference play with a visit to first year conference foe Samford on Tuesday, March 17. First serve is slated for 3:00 p.m.