Alabama 6, Furman 1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama men's tennis team swept the doubles and was victorious in five out of six singles matches to down Furman, 6-1, Saturday at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Crimson Tide recorded wins in all three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Jarryd Botha and David Vieryra recorded an 8-5 win over senior Andrew Mellow and junior Joel Cook in the top match-up, while B. O'Shaughnessey and Daniil Proskura topped junior Alex Christ and freshman Matt Browne, 8-4, at number two doubles. In the flight three match, Carlos Taborga and Philippe Tsangarides defeated senior Tyler Droll and sophomore Jacob Behal, 8-6.
In singles competition, 122nd-ranked Botha posted a 6-3, 3-6, 13-11 flight one win over Mellow, and O'Shaughnessey, ranked 86th nationally, bested Christ, 6-1, 6-2 at number two. In the third singles match, Proskura notched a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Cook, before Behal defeated Tsangarides, 6-2, 2-6, 10-4, to put the Paladins on the board. Taborga posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over Browne at number five singles, while Harris Barnard defeated senior Robbie Aru, 6-1, 6-3, at flight six.
Furman (2-5) will play at Georgia Sunday at 1 p.m.
Mississippi State 7, Samford 0
STARKVILLE, MISS. - In its first match of consecutive contests against top 15-ranked Southeastern Conference opponents this weekend, the Samford University men's tennis team dropped a 7-0 decision Saturday on the road against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a nonconference duel held at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
With the loss, Samford (4-3) moved to 1-1 against SEC foes this season. Earlier this year, the Bulldogs traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., and posted a historic 4-3 road victory at No. 45-ranked Alabama.
In the Bulldogs' momentous triumph over the Crimson Tide, Samford ended a 31-match losing streak against Alabama, dating all the way back to May 5, 1961, when the school was named Howard College. Therefore, it was the Bulldogs' first win over the Crimson Tide in nearly 52 years.
On Sunday, Samford will continue its string of matches against nationally-ranked opponents as the Bulldog play host to the No. 7-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at 10 a.m. (CST) at the state-of-the-art Samford Tennis Complex.
With Saturday's win, Mississippi State (9-2) remained undefeated at home this season and bounced back from a difficult 4-2 loss against arch-rival Ole Miss on Sunday.
Samford nearly pulled off the win in doubles play Saturday as the Bulldogs' tandem of Zac Dunkle and Garrison Laduca defeated Mississippi State's 13th-ranked pairing of Jordan Angus and Malte Strop, 8-6, on court No. 1. With their key victory against one of the top teams in the nation, Samford's doubles pairing improved to 2-0 this season.
The critical doubles point came down to court No. 3 where Mississippi State's duo of Romain Bogaerts and Pedro Dumont held off Samford's combination of Fares Kilani and Alex Sajonz, 8-6.
Mississippi State took the early 1-0 lead in the match by clinching the doubles point. The homestanding Bulldogs then earned victories on all six singles courts to claim the final 7-0 win.
The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 10 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a historic home contest to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
Kentucky (10-2) is coming off a thrilling 4-2 come-from-behind victory against No. 6 Georgia last week in the final day of action at the prestigious ITA National Indoor Championships inside the Nordstrom Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash.