March 8, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford men's tennis team opened conference play with a win over the Skyhawks of UT Martin on Saturday. The Bulldogs swept the Skyhawks, 7-0, moving the Samford men to 4-4 on the season, 1-0 in OVC play. The Skyhawks fall to 2-5, 0-1 OVC.

Samford started out claiming the double point as No. 1 duo Jordan Delass and Renan Silveira and No. 3 duo Kelwin Dewet and Richard Walsh defeated their opponents 8-5. No. 2 tandem Hank Grant and Sam Huffman won their match by a score of 8-3.

In singles, five Bulldogs took their matches in two sets. However at the No. 4 court, Huffman fought hard to win his match against UT Martin's Christian Slabbert. Huffman won the first set, 6-3, and lost the second set, 1-6, but got right back in it, taking the final set, 10-5.

The Bulldog men are back in action Thursday, March 13, as they join the women in hosting in-state rival and conference foe Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks were the last opponents the Bulldogs faced before starting OVC play. The teams met in late February in a non-conference match-up in which Samford walked away a 4-3 victor. Match play on Thursday begins at 2 p.m.

Samford 7, UT Martin 0Doubles
1. Delass/Silveira (SAM) def. Bruwer/Yesipov (UTM), 8-5
2. Grant/Huffman (SAM) def. Slabbert/Krywacz (UTM), 8-3
3. Dewet/Walsh (SAM) def. McRae/Markov (UTM), 8-5

Singles
1. Jordan Delass (SAM) def. Stephan Bruwer (UTM), 6-0, 6-1
2. Renan Silveira (SAM) def. Andrey Yesipov (UTM), 6-2, 6-4
3. Hank Grant (SAM) def. Alfredo Krywacz (UTM), 6-1, 6-4
4. Sam Huffman (SAM) def. Christian Slabbert (UTM), 6-3, 1-6, 10-5
5. Oliver Reynolds (SAM) def. Petr Markov (UTM), 6-2, 6-0
6. Brian Dushock (SAM) def. Stewart McRae (UTM), 7-6, 7-5