Box Score

PADUCAH, Ky. – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision to Belmont in the opening round of the 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Tennis Championships on Friday afternoon at the Heflin Tennis Center.

The Gamecocks, who were the No. 4 seed in the six-team event, finishes the season at 10-14 and won six of its nine OVC matches during the season.

The Bruins, who dropped a 5-2 match to JSU earlier in the season in Jacksonville, took the momentum of the match with the doubles point.  Jax State's No. 2 tandem of Igor Santos and Felipe Wenzel turned back BU's team of Fernando Mussolini and Navarro Veys, 8-4.  Santos and Wenzel finished the season with a solid 14-4 overall record and won eight matches against OVC foes.  After BU took the match at No. 3, the decisive match for the point came down to No. 1.  The Bruins' pairing of Renato Antun and Henrique Norbiato edged JSU's duo of Axel Sundberg and Nenad Marcec, 8-6.

BU took a 2-0 lead after Bruno Silva topped JSU's Felipe Diaz – 6-1, 6-4.  The Gamecocks put their lone point on the scoreboard with a win at No. 5.  After dropping the first set to Henrik Claesson, Wenzel bounced  back to win in straight sets – 6-3, 6-1.

The match-clinching point came after Norbiato out-lasted Sundberg at No. 2.  After Sundberg won the opening set, 6-3, Norbiato rebounded to win 6-1, 6-3 to close out the match.
The Bruins will face Tennessee Tech on Saturday in the semifinal round.

The JSU women, who had an opening-round bye, learned their Saturday opponent on Friday morning.  They will face No. 6 seed Belmont at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the semifinals.