CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel tennis team will finally get their chance to play at home this weekend as the Bulldogs will host Methodist and Samford at the Earle Tennis Center.

The Bulldogs will first take on Methodist at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 6. The 'Dogs will then host Samford for a Southern Conference match on Sunday, March 8. First serve of Sunday's match is scheduled for 11 a.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Citadel men's tennis team closed out the month of February with a 6-1 win over Fairmont State on Saturday afternoon.

Fairmont State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point behind victories at No. 1 and No. 3, but sophomores Phillip Quinn and Josiah Schainblatt helped the 'Dogs avoid the sweep with an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles.

The Bulldogs won the match with a clean sweep of singles action, including four in straight sets. At No. 1, Will Graham earned his first-ever No. 1 singles win with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Joao Lucas Alves. Quinn made it a 2-0 week with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bartosz Losiak at No. 2 singles. Freshman Zvonko Bencedic earned a hard-fought, three-set victory at No. 3. Bencedic won the first set 6-2, fell 6-2 to Guilherme Pachane in the second set, and bounced back to claim the point with a 6-3 win in the final set. At No. 4 singles, senior Jack Pyritz won in straight sets with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Joao Martins. Schainblatt secured his first singles win of the season, second in his career, with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 5 over Valentino Klett. Freshman Leo du Plooy rounded out the day with his first career win in singles action. Du Plooy bounced back from a 7-5 loss in the first set to win the point with matching 7-6, 7-6 victories in the final two sets.

SCOUTING METHODIST
Methodist is currently 0-9, having played all but one match on the road. The Monarchs most recently dropped a pair of matches to Barton. In the first match against Barton's A squad, the Monarchs fell 7-0. Methodist then fell, 4-3, to Barton's B squad. Methodist has been led by freshman Tyler Kane with four wins, as well as juniors Henry Blanco and Kyle Klinek, and sophomore Alex Lycan with three wins each.

SCOUTING SAMFORD
Samford heads into the week with a 4-5 record, including sitting 0-1 in Southern Conference play. The Bulldogs started the season off with a 6-0 loss at No. 21 Mississippi State on Jan. 11 and then notched their first win of the season, 4-3, at home against Presbyterian on Jan. 13. The Bulldogs also defeated North Alabama (Feb.5, 4-0), Alabama A&M (Feb. 5, 7-0) and Alabama State (Feb. 8, 7-0) before dropping their most recent pair of matches at Auburn and at home to ETSU. Samford fell 4-0 at Auburn on Feb. 14 and opened SoCon play with a 6-1 loss at home to ETSU on Feb. 22. The Bulldogs will travel to UNC Greensboro on Saturday, March 7 before traveling down to Charleston for Sunday's match. Junior Rossouw Norval leads the team with a 6-2 singles mark, all at No. 1. Sophomore Mohammed Ali Bellalouna is second on the team with a 5-3 record, while freshman Luka Andonov and junior Eladio Fabregas each boast three wins.

UP NEXT
After opening the home schedule this week, the Bulldogs will hit the road again, this time traveling to Dallas, Texas for three matches. The 'Dogs will open the weekend at UT Dallas on Friday, March 13. The Citadel will then play at UT Arlington on Saturday, March 14 and will play a neutral-site match against Utah.

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