March 14, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford men's tennis team will host its first doubleheader of the 2009 spring season Sunday as the Bulldogs welcome the Murray State Racers and Gadsden State Cardinals to the Samford Tennis Center for a pair of non-conference matches. Samford will play Murray State at 2 p.m., and Gadsden State at 5 p.m.

Samford (2-9) heads into Sunday's competition with a 1-3 record at home this season.

Since defeating Davidson 4-3 in their inaugural Southern Conference on March 1, the Bulldogs have dropped back-to-back home matches against 75th-ranked Elon 6-1 and UNC Greensboro 5-2.

Murray State (3-5) enters the weekend with a two-match winning streak. The Racers have been playing some of their best tennis of the season as of late and recently earned victories against both SIU Edwardsville 4-3 and Tennessee State 7-0.

With Murray State's shutout win over Tennessee State on Thursday, the Racers improved to 1-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Last season, when Samford was also a member of the OVC, the Bulldogs earned a 6-1 victory against the Racers in Murray, Ky. Samford went on to finish second in the conference's regular-season standings and later earned the championship title of the 2008 OVC Tournament.

Gadsden State (3-3) travels to Birmingham, Ala., with aspirations of bouncing back from a 7-2 loss against Meridian Community College on March 7. After picking up consecutive victories against Marion Military and Huntingdon College on Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, the Cardinals have dropped two of their last three matches.

On Feb. 28, Gadsden State suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat versus Central Alabama.

Following Sunday's doubleheader against Murray State and Gadsden State, Samford will next be in action Tuesday at 2 p.m., as the Bulldogs return to SoCon play with a home matchup against the Georgia Southern Eagles. The key conference contest will be held at the Samford Tennis Center.