Feb. 11, 2012

Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In its third match in three days, the Samford University men's tennis team battled with all of its might Saturday, but ultimately dropped a 4-2 decision against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a hard-fought, non-conference contest held at the Samford Tennis Center.

"This team showed great heart and desire the last three days," said Samford head coach Rahim Esmail. "Our backs were up against the wall many times, and we did not give up. We are doing a lot of things well right now, and we need to keep focusing on the process and building momentum to give ourselves the chance to be playing our best tennis in April."

Samford (3-2) dropped its second straight match against a Conference USA opponent Saturday after the Bulldogs fell short in a nail-biter versus UAB on Friday, 4-3. Friday's contest, which was a six-hour marathon held at the Samford Tennis Center, came down to the final singles match and wasn't finished until nearly 10 p.m.

The Bulldogs bounced back from the heart-breaking loss and came out firing against Southern Miss (3-2) just 13 hours later at 11 a.m. (CST) Saturday.

Samford opened the contest with a quick 8-2 doubles victory from Zac Dunkle and Alexander Sajonz on court No. 1, but the Golden Eagles rallied for a pair of identical 8-5 wins on courts No. 2 and No. 3. By securing two of the three doubles victories, Southern Miss jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in Saturday's contest.

In singles play, the Bulldogs received straight-set wins from Elliot Barnwell and Sajonz, while Ryan Shidler's match on court No. 6 was suspended in the third set. Barnwell, Samford's talented sophomore from Mancetter, United Kingdom, cruised past the Golden Eagles' Juan Escobar, 6-0, 6-2, on court No. 3 to improve to 5-0 this season.

"Barnwell did a great job today in singles, as he is playing with a lot of confidence," Esmail said. "Southern Miss played a great match and a lot of credit goes to their players. They fought hard."

Despite Samford's wins on courts No. 3 and No. 5, Southern Miss tallied victories on three of the other courts to register its 4-2 non-conference triumph.

The Samford University men's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Jacksonville, Ala., for an in-state duel against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The non-conference contest will be held at the JSU Tennis Courts.