JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team blanked Alabama State 7-0 Friday at the JSU Tennis Courts.
 
The Gamecocks (8-1) improved to 5-1 over their last six matches with the victory over the Hornets (2-5), tossing their fifth shutout of the season.
 
Jax State got on the board quickly with a couple of doubles set wins to take the first point of the day. Aljaz Kaplja and Thomas Norwood took their No. 2 matchup 6-2 over Chris Andre and Juan Rodriguez, while Guillermo Agost and Jordi Blanchar also won 6-2 with a third-spot victory over Alexis Collard and Alejo Calvis.
 
In singles action, Joaquin Vallejo was in two sets over Andre at No. 2, and Blanchar followed suit with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Andrej Trajkovski at No. 6. Norwood downed Rodriguez 6-1 in straight sets at No. 3 to secure the win for the Gamecocks.
 
Dmitrii Vasilev piled on at No. 4 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Luka Markovic, and Agost pushed the Jax State lead to 5-0 with a straight-sets win at No. 1 over Collard. Kaplja completed the shutout with a three-set win over Alejo Calvis at No. 5.
 
Kaplja's win at No. 5 improved his season record to a team-best 7-0, while Norwood's win at No. 3 was his sixth win of the season.
 
Next on the schedule for Jacksonville State is a trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face Southern Mississippi on March 6 at 2 p.m. The next home match is March 11 against Kennesaw State at 11 a.m.
 
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