CHARLESTON, S.C. – Freshman Zvonko Bencedic recorded his sixth-straight win in singles play Sunday afternoon as The Citadel tennis team took on Samford in a Southern Conference match at the Earle Tennis Center. Samford claimed the match, 5-2, to record its first SoCon win of the season.

Match Information
Location: Charleston, S.C. (Earle Tennis Center)
Final Score: Samford 5, The Citadel 2
Records: The Citadel (5-12, 0-3 SoCon), Samford (5-6, 1-2 SoCon)

Match Rundown

• The day started with Samford sweeping through doubles action to claim the doubles point, but Noah Nawabi and Will Graham pushed Mohammed Ali Bellalouna and Timothy Dixon to a tiebreaker, falling 11-9 in the 10-point tiebreaker to give Samford the 7-6 win.
• In singles action, Bencedic won at No. 4 over Max Rebol. Bencedic took the first set 7-5 with Rebol taking the second set 6-4. With the match already decided, the two played a 10-point tiebreaker with Bencedic winning 10-7.
• At No. 5 singles, Nawabi defeated Luka Andonov in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
• Samford was able to win its four singles matches in straight sets, but Gavin Stewart took four games at No. 1, while Phillip Quinn took seven games at No. 3.

Match Results
Doubles
1. Rossouw Norval / Eladio Fabregas (Samford) def. Gavin Stewart / Zvonko Bencedic (The Citadel) 6-4
2. Mohammed Ali Bellalouna / Timothy Dixon (Samford) def. Noah Nawabi / Will Graham (The Citadel) 7-6 (11-9)
3. Luka Andonov / Max Rebol (Samford) def. Phillip Quinn / Josiah Schainblatt (The Citadel) 6-3

Singles
1. Norval (Samford) def. Stewart (The Citadel) 6-1, 6-3
2. Fabregas (Samford) def. Graham (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-2
3. Ali Bellalouna (Samford) def. Quinn (The Citadel) 6-4, 6-3
4. Bencedic (The Citadel) def. Rebol (Samford) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
5. Nawabi (The Citadel) def. Luka Andonov (Samford) 6-2, 6-1
6. Tomas Santantonio (Samford) def. Jack Pyritz (The Citadel) 6-0, 6-2

QUOTABLES FROM COACH KRIESE
"Samford's fundamentals were excellent in the doubles, and although we pushed them at two of the doubles, I thought that gave them some early momentum. I really feel that this was a match that was tough down to the wire with every point played hard, but I was quite impressed with their level of fundamentals at the top positions. We are in the hunt for all of these matches, but once again we need to be able to take advantage of our opportunities. We had too many unforced errors at critical times on our part.

"We are excited to head out on our spring trip to Texas this weekend, and then we have a homestand of multiple matches. I am anxious to see if our team can continue in the right direction and grow from the reps that we will be getting over the next two weeks."

UP NEXT
The Citadel will travel to Dallas, Texas this coming weekend for three matches against UT Dallas, UT Arlington and Utah. The Bulldogs will first take on UT Dallas on Friday, March 13 at 4 p.m. Eastern. The 'Dogs will then face UT Arlington at 10 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, March 14 before facing Utah in a neutral-site match at 1 p.m. Eastern.

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