April 3, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford women's tennis team continues its five-match road swing with three conference matches this weekend. The Bulldogs take on Murray State, Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 4-6.

The Samford (11-5, 3-0 OVC) women come off a weekend full of play in the Auburn-Montgomery Blue-Gray Jamboree in which they played three matches against some top ranked Division II teams. The Bulldogs fell in their first match against Armstrong Atlantic, 7-2, and their last match against No. 2 Valdosta State, 5-4, with a 6-3 win over No. 12 Columbus State sandwiched in between.

The Samford (11-5, 3-0 OVC) women come off a weekend full of play in the Auburn-Montgomery Blue-Gray Jamboree in which they played three matches against some top ranked Division II teams. The Bulldogs fell in their first match against Armstrong Atlantic, 7-2, and their last match against No. 2 Valdosta State, 5-4, with a 6-3 win over No. 12 Columbus State sandwiched in between.

Samford is 3-0 so far in conference play, earning its first three wins over UT Martin, Jacksonville State and Austin Peay. The Bulldog women were picked to repeat as regular-season champions this year and hope to remain at the top of the conference after this weekend of play. The Bulldogs are currently tied with Eastern Kentucky (15-5, 6-0 OVC) for the top OVC spot. Taylor Morgan ranks as the fourth overall singles player in the OVC and the top No. 3 player while Andrie Meiring is the top No. 4 player and third overall. Katie Weaver is the top-ranked No. 6 player.

Murray State (11-4, 5-1 OVC) split a pair of matches last weekend with Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky. The Racers defeated Morehead State Friday, 6-1, but fell to the Colonels, 6-1, on Saturday. They did pick up another win on Tuesday, defeating UT Martin, 4-3. Murray State is right on the heels of the Bulldogs in the conference standings, holding onto third place. The Racers' No. 1 doubles team, Angela McGahee and Anne Pennington, is currently ranked as the top No. 1 duo in the conference and second overall.

Eastern Illinois (10-4, 3-2 OVC) is currently fifth in the OVC standings. The Panthers went 2-1 on the weekend picking up wins over Morehead State and Tennessee State on Thursday and Sunday, but falling on Friday to Eastern Illinois. The Panthers' Natalie Martin leads all women's singles players in the OVC with an 11-2 overall record while ranking as the top No. 2 player, and Cara Huck and Sandra Sasidharan are the top-ranked No. 2 duo in the conference.

Southeast Missouri (5-8, 2-3 OVC) picked up two wins on Saturday and Sunday. The Redhawks defeated non-conference foes Western Illinois and Milwaukee, 4-3. SEMO's Bryce Kristal leads the conference's No. 1 singles players with an 8-3 record

Match play with the Racers begins Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Samford women will then head to Eastern Illinois to take on the Panthers at noon on Saturday before wrapping the weekend at Southeast Missouri at 1 p.m. on Sunday. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com after each match.