Feb. 3, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford men's tennis team finally earned its first win over the spring season Sunday after three consecutive losses, two coming from nationally-ranked teams. The Bulldogs defeated the Cougars of Columbus State, 6-1, in Samford's first regular-season home match at the Pat M. Courington Tennis Pavilion.

The Bulldogs dominated the singles portion of the match, allowing only one Cougar players to walk away with a win. No. 1 player Jordan Delass defeated Frank Suarez (6-3, 6-2) while No. 3 player Hank Grant beat Paul Van Rensburg (6-4, 6-2). Sam Huffman took the victory at the No. 4 court over Luis Gonzalez-Tolentino (6-4, 6-3), Brian Dushock won on the No. 5 court over Hernando Ortiz (6-0, 6-4), and freshman Oliver Reynolds defeated Filip Cojbasic (6-2, 6-2) at the No. 6 court. At the No. 2 court, Renan Silveira won the first set against Guillermo Echevarria but fell behind in the second two sets. Echevarria would walk away with the win as the match was retired.

The Bulldogs won the doubles point as two Samford duos Silveira/Delass (No. 1) and Huffman/Grant (No. 2) won their respective matches. Silveira/Delass defeated Rensbug/Gonzalez, 8-2, while Huffman/Grant defeated Suarez/Ortiz, 8-1. At the No. 3 court, Dushock/Walsh fell to Echevarria/Cojbasic, 8-6.

Samford is back in action on Friday, Feb. 8 as the head on the road to take on Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs then face the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at noon. Finally, the Samford men will kick off conference play at Jacksonville State followed by almost a month off before return back to home play.

Samford 6, Columbus State 1

Doubles
1. Silveira/Delass (SAM) def. Van Rensberg/Gonzalez (CSU), 8-2
2. Huffman/Grant (SAM) def. Suarez/Ortiz (CSU), 8-1
3. Echevarria/Cojbasic (CSU) def. Dushock/Walsh (SAM), 8-6

Singles
1. Jordan Delass (SAM) def. Frank Suarez (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Guillermo Echevarria (CSU) def. Renan Silveira (SAM), 0-6, 7-5, 3-0 ret.
3. Hank Grant (SAM) def. Paul Van Rensberg (CSU), 6-4, 6-2
4. Sam Huffman (SAM) def. Luis Gonzalez-Tolentino (CSU), 6-4, 6-3
5. Brian Dushock (SAM) def. Hernando Ortiz (CSU), 6-0, 6-4
6. Oliver Reynolds (SAM) def. Filip Cojbasic (CSU), 6-2, 6-2