Samford 7, Morehead State 0
RICHMOND, KY. --- The Samford University men's tennis team extended its winning streak to three-consecutive matches Sunday as the Bulldogs tallied a dominant 7-0 victory against the Morehead State Eagles in a non-conference neutral contest held at the Greg Adams Tennis Center.
With the win, Samford (6-2) improved to 4-0 when playing away from home this season and completed its weekend road swing with a perfect 2-0 record. On Saturday, the Bulldogs defeated Eastern Kentucky 5-2 and snapped the Colonels' 38-match home winning streak, which dated back to Feb. 7, 2009.
In Sunday's victory over Morehead State (6-4), Samford won the doubles point by earning victories on court No. 1 and court No. 3. On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' Zac Dunkle and Alexander Sajonz tallied an 8-2 triumph over the Eagles' tandem of Seve Day and Kevin Deligny, while Samford's duo of Fernando Costa and Carson Kadi cruised to a similar 8-2 victory in the No. 3 doubles contest.
After earning the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, the Bulldogs then received quick straight-set singles wins from Dunkle, Kadi, Elliot Barnwell, Costa and Sajonz. Samford's Ryan Shilder closed out the lopsided 7-0 victory with a 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 triumph on court No. 6.
The Bulldogs' Barnwell and Costa both improved their singles record to 7-1 on Sunday. Barnwell, Samford's sophomore native of Mancetter, United Kingdom, tallied a 6-0, 7-5 win on court No. 3, while Costa breezed past Day, 6-1, 6-3, in the No. 4 singles matchup.
Dunkle, the Bulldogs' junior from Atlanta, Ga., defeated the Eagles' David Clifford, 6-1, 6-1, on court No. 1 to improve to 6-2 this season.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action March 10 at 10 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs begin play in their 2012 Southern Conference schedule with a home match against the Wofford Terriers to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
Appalachian State 6, Belmont 1
BOONE, N.C. - A day after the Mountaineers saw their three-match winning streak snapped, Appalachian State University men's tennis rebounded with a 6-1 win over Belmont at Deer Valley Racquet Club on Sunday. The Black and Gold (4-3) regain their winning record, while Belmont (1-4) continues to stumble in 2012.
In doubles action, Appalachian seniors Alain Humblet and Steve Karendal were the first to notch a win, turning a 3-4 deficit into a 7-4 advantage en route to an 8-6 win at No 2. Within moments, ASU's No. 3 duo of Andrew McKinnon and Zeke Sansing capitalized on two serve breaks to take their match 8-3 and secure the doubles point for the Apps.
At No. 1 doubles, Appalachian senior Philip Kloc and sophomore Sebastien King were on-serve as both teams scored a break-point before the match was halted and went unfinished.
Individually, ASU senior Alex Markov won three straight games to close out the first set and four-straight in his second, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 to start the singles scoring.
In No. 3 singles, Humblet broke serve late in the first set and in the first game of the second. The Mountaineer tacked on another broken serve late in the latter set, scoring a 6-4, 6-2 win, extending Appalachian's lead to 3-0.
After winning four unanswered games to end the first set, Kloc put himself in position to secure the match-clinching point. In the second set, the Mountaineer's late break put him up 5-3, and he succeeded in holding serve for the 6-3, 6-3 victory to extend ASU's team score to an unreachable 4-0.
At No. 5 singles, Karendal scored his second win of the day in quick fashion, as Belmont's netter was forced to retire by injury after only three games.
No. 6 sophomore Matt Saltsgaver tallied Appalachian's final point, maintaining consistent pressure to score a break in the first set to win 6-3. In the second, Saltsgaver was serving for the match at 5-4, but his Belmont opponent hung tough to equalize the score, and after back-to-back breaks, the combatants found themselves deadlocked, 6-6. In the end, Saltsgaver regained his composure and swept the tiebreaker for the 6-3, 7-6(7-0) win.
In the final match on the courts, Belmont's Henrique Norbiato scored Belmont's only sets of the day, recording a 6-4 first set before sending the second into a tiebreaker. Though ASU's King pulled out the second-set breaker, Norbiato prevailed in the super tie-breaker, earning Belmont's lone point at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 6-7(3-7), (10-8).
The Mountaineers will have two weeks to prepare for their next match, as Appalachian State is set to open Southern Conference action in its next match, a March 11 meeting with Samford in Birmingham.
Georgia State 5, College of Charleston 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The 70th-ranked Georgia State Panthers won five of six singles to claim a 5-2 victory over the College of Charleston men's tennis team in its home opener playing under the lights on Sunday evening at the CofC Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
The Panthers (7-3) were the second ranked foe to get past the Cougars (2-2) in their last four dual matches after a hard-fought 4-3 road setback at No. 66 Clemson to start the New Year.
CofC claimed the doubles point for the fourth time this season as senior Mickael Trintignac and junior Kyle Parker defeated Georgia State's top tandem of Victor Valente and Matias Hatem, 8-5, at the No. 1 line.
Junior Stephen Hardy and sophomore Brice Allanic also knocked off Lucas Santana and Juan Pablo Gutierrez by a count of 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.
Sophomore Crescente Lesser improved to 2-1 on the season as the Cougars' lone singles victor with a straight-set win over Lucas Santana, 7-5, 6-2, at the No. 5 line.
CofC will open Southern Conference play this weekend continuing its two-match homestand with Elon on Saturday, March 3 at noon (ET) at the CofC Tennis Center.