JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team blanked Eastern Illinois 7-0 Friday to open its Ohio Valley Conference portion of the spring season.
 
The Gamecocks (7-3, 1-0 OVC) dropped just one set as they routed the Panthers (2-0, 0-1 OVC) at the JSU Tennis Courts. Seniors Guillermo Agost and Joaquin Vellejo each tallied their seventh singles wins of the year, while Thomas Norwood and Aljaz Kaplja teamed up to register their seventh doubles win.
 
The duo of Norwood and Kaplja won 6-1 at No. 1 doubles over Pau Riera and Karan Srivastava, and Vallejo and Maj Tomac secured the afternoon's first point with a 6-3 win at No. 3.
 
Jax State ran the table in singles action, seeing just one set go EIU's way. Vellejo fell 7-5 in his first set against Srivastava but bounced back to win 6-1 and 10-6 in the following two stanzas to take the win at No. 1.
 
Agost's seventh win of the season came in two sets at No. 2 over Leighton Brandon. The Logroño, Spain, native downed the Panthers' sophomore in straight sets, 7-5 and 6-4.
 
The Gamecocks return to the courts Sunday, March 21 when they travel to Birmingham to take on UAB. First serve against the Blazers is scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
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