Box Score
NASHVILLE – Jacksonville State's run to another Ohio Valley Conference Tennis Championship ended in a tough 4-2 setback to Tennessee Tech in the semifinals of the 2016 OVC Tennis Championships at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee.
The fourth-seed Gamecocks ended the first year under head coach
Andres Amores at 10-15 and 5-4 in OVC play. JSU was making its 13
th straight appearance in the postseason conference event. Tech, the top seed in the draw advances to play the No. 2 seed Eastern Kentucky in Sunday's OVC Championship match.
Jax State battled the regular season champions throughout the day, starting with the doubles win. JSU's top team of
Andres Gomez and Liu Shao Chun ousted Tech's No. 1 pairing of Alex Arovin and Alberto Esteban, 6-2, to gain the advantage in doubles. JSU clinched the point at No. 3 as the Gamecock duo of
Pedro Wagner and
Mathias Chaim remained perfect against OVC foes with another win. The combo moved to 9-0 versus the conference with a 6-4 win over Jorge Alfonso and Nicolas Gullie.
The hard fought battles continued in singles as three of the five completed matched went to three sets. JSU picked up its second point after junior
Jaryd Reese topped Arrovin at No. 2. Reese claimed the first set 7-5 before Arovin bounced back to gain a split at 6-3 in the second set. Reese finished the match with a 6-4 win.
Tech won three of the four points with three set victories at Np. 3, 4 and 5. Esteban took the first set against Chaim, 7-6(4), but Chaim forced a third-and-deciding set with 6-3 win in the second set. Esteban downed Chaim 6-3 for the point. Gullie and JSU's
Vinicio Hadlich split the first two sets before Gullie turned in a 6-0 third set win. Tech's Marcos Bernardes posted a win over Gomez at No. 5. Gomez regrouped after losing the first set with a win in the second set, but fell 6-4 in the deciding set.
