JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State women's tennis team bested Belmont 4-3 Sunday as four seniors played their final home matches as Gamecocks at the JSU Tennis Courts.
 
Alessia Locati, Malin Buechner, Harriet Hamilton and Sara Jamal were recognized following the Jax State (9-9, 4-3 OVC) victory over the Bruins (5-9, 2-5 OVC). The win secured the No. 4 seed for the Gamecocks in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Tennis Championships.
 
The doubles point went to Belmont, but Jacksonville State answered with four singles W's to put the Bruins away. Hamilton began the scoring with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Peyton Lee at No. 2, but Terra Sheldon earned a second BU point with a two-set win at No. 5.
 
Trailing 2-1, Carolina Bulatovic won her contest in two sets at No. 1 to tie the match, and Buechner took a two-set sweep over Erin Allen at No. 3 to put Jax State back in the driver's seat.
 
Balsen Kaya dropped a three-setter to Sarah Brackin at No. 6, but freshman sensation Dariana Prato delivered the win for the Gamecocks by taking a nail-biter of a match that went the distance. After dropping the first set 6-4 to Drew Hawkins, Prato answered with back-to-back 7-5 wins in the final two frames for a dramatic finish for Jacksonville State.
 
The OVC Championships are set for April 24-25 at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana. The No. 4 Gamecocks will take on No. 1 Southeast Missouri at 2 p.m. on Saturday. With a win, JSU would square off against the winner of No. 2 Austin Peay and No. 3 Murray State. The championship round is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
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