OXFORD, Ala. – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team handed Eastern Kentucky its first conference loss on Friday, 6-1, to keep atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
 
The Gamecocks improved to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in OVC play, remaining once of only two other teams undefeated with conference games under their belts (Belmont 2-0, Tennessee Tech 2-0, Tennessee State 0-0).
 
Jacksonville State took a quick 1-0 lead over the Colonels (5-15, 1-1 OVC) with the acquisition of the doubles point. Pablo Caffarena and Sergio Lizarraga took the third set 6-0, while Aljaz Kaplja and Paolo Cucalon claimed the No. 2 contest 6-2 to claim the point.
 
Following doubles play, JSU took five singles points in a row. Kaplja, Caffarena, Joaquin Vallejo, Guillermo Agost and Cucalon handled the Colonels through the first five matchups to wrap up the victory. The Gamecocks only loss came in a tight three-set match at No. 6. Sergio Lizarraga fell 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to Nicholas Castaldo for EKU's lone point of the afternoon.
 
The Gamecocks wrap up their home slate with a 10 a.m. match against Southeast Missouri on April 7. The contest is scheduled to be played at the Oxford Sports Complex.
 
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