EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team fell 4-2 to Belmont in the first round of the OVC Championships at the Evansville Tennis Center on Saturday, bringing its season to a close.
 
Originally scheduled to be played outside at the Wesselman Tennis Center, weather forced the two teams inside for their rematch of the regular-season finale.
 
The three-seeded Bruins (12-4) got on the board first with a pair of doubles wins. Marko Ilic and Taisei Miyamoto topped Aljaz Kaplja and Thomas Norwood 6-4 at No. 1, and Diego Castro and Tomas Luis won 6-1 over Jordi Blanchar and Guillermo Agost at No. 2 to claim the doubles point. Joaqin Vallejo and Maj Tomac saw their match at No. 3 go unfinished despite leading 6-5.
 
Norwood and Agost salvaged two points for two-seeded Jax State (10-7) in singles action. Norwood defeated Luis in straight sets, 6-2 and 7-6, while Agost topped Castro in two with a 7-5, 6-3 final.
 
Belmont went on to win three singles points to take the match and move on. Kaplja and Miyamoto were battling in their second set when the contest ended. Miyamoto won the first set 6-4 while the second set was tied 6-6.
 
With their 10 victories, the Gamecocks have registered double-digit victories in 10 of the last 11 seasons. JSU claimed nine wins in 2020 before the season was cut short due to COVID-19.
 
Jax State's second-place finish to the regular season was their best ranking since winning the regular-season championship in 2014. JSU has also participated in the OVC Tournament in each of the last 17 seasons – a distinction shared with no other team in the conference.
 
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