Samford 6, UTSA 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University women’s tennis team remained undefeated at home this season Saturday as the Bulldogs cruised to a 6-1 nonconference victory against the UTSA Roadrunners in a dual-match contest held at the Samford Tennis Complex.
Samford (3-1) owns a brilliant 3-0 record when playing at home this season. The Bulldogs’ lone loss of the year occurred at No. 21-ranked Auburn on Sunday.
UTSA (3-5) suffered a loss for the just the second time in five outings Saturday and had its winning streak snapped at two matches.
The Bulldogs dominated doubles play against the Roadrunners and earned respective victories of 8-1 and 8-2, respectively, on courts No. 2 and No. 3.
In the No. 2 doubles matchup, Samford’s combination of Jessica Northcutt and Stephanie N’tcha tallied an 8-1 victory, while the Bulldogs’ tandem of Yasmeen Ebada and Emily Mallory notched an 8-2 triumph on court No. 3. Already this season, Samford has compiled an impressive 8-3 record in doubles play.
By winning the doubles point Saturday, the Bulldogs jumped out to a key 1-0 lead in the match.
Then, in singles play, Samford quickly received straight-set victories on each of the bottom five courts and garnered a decisive 6-0 lead. UTSA’s lone win on the day occurred at singles court No. 1 where Jacobea Junger outlasted the Bulldogs’ Kristin Lewis, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Samford’s lopsided singles triumphs were registered by No. 73-ranked N’tcha, Ebada, Northcutt, Mallory and Lauren Caballero. The Bulldogs’ Ebada, N’tcha and Mallory are all undefeated in singles play this season.
Davidson 7, Belmont Abbey 0
Florida International 6, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Davidson women’s tennis team won an impressive 7-0 decision against Belmont Abbey, before falling in an afternoon match to Florida International, 6-1, as part of a doubleheader Saturday at the Knobloch Tennis Center.
Davidson saw its record move to 3-5 after the 1-1 day, while Belmont Abbey fell to 0-3 and FIU ran its record to 2-1. The Wildcats and Panthers were playing for the first time, while the ‘Cats improved to 4-0 vs. the Crusaders since 1990.
The day started off with a blanking of BAC in all but one match, with the Wildcats giving up a game at No. 2 doubles. All six singles slots won in a straight-set 6-0, 6-0 fashion, while the No. 1 and 2 doubles teams took a pair of 8-0 wins.
Though the Wildcats scored just one team point in the second match vs. Florida International, they did not go down without a fight. The lone victor in the afternoon match was senior Brites Moniz-Soares. She regrouped after falling 6-2 in her first set to roll off 6-2, 6-3 wins in the next two sets for her fourth win of the year.
The No. 2 and 3 players Elaina Cummer and Nisha Crouser also pushed their counterparts to a third set, but came out on the wrong end. Cummer took the middle set, 6-2, but fell in the first one 6-2 and last set 6-4.
Crouser played to a third-set tie-breaker after she split her first two sets, 4-6 and 6-1. The senior went back-and-forth before falling to Aleksandra Trifunovi in the tie-breaker, 7-4.
Jenna Brunner split her first two sets as well, 2-6 and 6-1, but since the team match had been decided she finished out with a super tie-breaker. She was overcome with a 10-4 defeat No. 5.
Tamara Hill gave her opponent at No. 6 all she could handle, forcing an extra game in the first set, before falling 7-5. She then went to a tie-breaker in the second set, but came up short, 7-2 to fall 7-6.
Davidson wraps up a three-match homestand with a 5 p.m. match against USC-Upstate, Feb. 21.