NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team blanked Eastern Illinois 4-0 Friday morning in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Championships at the Centennial Sportsplex.
 
The Gamecocks (15-4) earned the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, then followed up with three consecutive singles wins. The victory over the Panthers (6-17) puts JSU in the second round against No. 2-seeded Tennessee Tech at 8 a.m. on Tuesday in Nashville.
 
Freshman of the Year Aljaz Kaplja and team mate Paolo Cucalon won their doubles match 6-3, and Andres Gomez and Guillermo Agost followed up with a 7-5 win at doubles No. 1 to secure the point.
 
Cucalon got the singles scoring started with a win over Gage Kingsmith (6-1, 6-1), and Joaquin Vallejo picked up his team-leading 13th win over Logan Charbonneau (6-2, 6-1) at No. 3.
 
With his team mates watching from the other side of the fence, Pablo Caffarena finished off EIU with a three-set victory over Grant Reiman (6-7, 6-0, 6-2) at No. 2. Kaplja, Agost and Sergio Lizarraga each had their matchups go unfinished.

 
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