BIRMINGHAM – Gamecock men's tennis had two good showings over the weekend. Six competitors totaled 15 wins at the Samford Invitational while three student-athletes represented the Red-and-White well at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships.
 
Jacksonville State opened the Samford Invitational with a solid first day on Friday. After a clean sweep in two-on-two competition by Marko Milosavljevic and Zach Murphy (6-2), Logan Haga and Matei Palcau (6-3), and Aman Dahiya and Liam Day (6-1) against UAB's doubles teams, four Gamecocks- Dahiya (6-3, 3-6, 6-2), Day (6-4, 6-2), Haga (6-1, 6-4), and Milosavljevic (3-6, 6-2, 7-6 [4])- earned singles wins over North Alabama.
 
Saturday was highlighted by singles triumphs for Haga (6-0, 6-1), Murphy (6-3, 6-3), and Palcau (6-2, 6-3) versus the host Bulldogs and a doubles decision by the duo of Dahiya and Day (6-1) in pairings with UNA. Milosavljevic/Murphy (6-2) and Dahiya/Day (7-6 [2]) added doubles wins over Samford on Sunday, as did Murphy (6-4, 6-2) and Milosavljevic (7-5, 6-3) in singles against UAB.
 
"I'm very happy with the way the guys on our team progressed at Samford," head coach Trey Morris said. "We're continuing to be a team that ages well and we're getting better with every single match we play. Every player is starting to find their identify and it's starting to show that the quality of training is paying off."
 
Senior Ivan Marrero Curbelo, redshirt sophomore Lucius Soller, and sophomore Alin Fatu were invited to Athens, Ga., over the weekend to participate in the prestigious Southern Intercollegiate Championships. All three had impressive outings and two made a run to the finals of a doubles draw.
 
Marrero Curbelo, a transfer from Saint Leo, opened the event on Friday with a singles triumph, 7-5, 6-1, over Mercer's Nemanja Stefanovic in the Red Draw's Round of 16. He proceeded to down Georgia's Ryan Colby in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) in the Quarterfinals on Saturday before falling (6-4, 5-7, 1-0, retired) to Thomas Paulsell of UGA, the overall winner of the Red Draw, in the Semifinal Round.
 
"Ivan had a great weekend, making it to the Semis of the Southern Intercollegiates," Morris said. "I was very pleased in his Quarterfinal performance, as he handed Georgia's Ryan Colby his first loss of the Fall season. Unfortunately he fell down with some cramps in the Semifinals and couldn't finish the match, but I'm happy with his performance both in singles and doubles."
 
Soller and Marrero Curbelo tallied two doubles wins on Friday, knocking off pairs from Mercer and UNC Wilmington in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the Black Draw. They then advanced to the Final Round on Sunday where they suffered a narrow setback, 7-8 (3-7), to Georgia Tech's Richard Biagiotti and Gabriele Brancatelli.
 
In other action at the Southern Intercollegiates, Soller added Silver Draw Singles Round Robin wins over Georgia State's Michael Nicholls (6-2, 6-2), Owen DeMuth of Georgia Tech (6-4, 6-2), and UNCW's Juan Jose Vargas (6-3, 6-4). Fatu, a second-year Gamecock from Romania, downed Vanderbilt's Paul Wang (6-1, 4-6, 6-1) and Samuel MacLeod of Mercer (6-1, 7-5) in the Black Draw Consolation on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
 
"Alin and Lucius both came off the weekend with a winning record and that's huge," Morris said. "That further shows that our training is something that ages well. We're a team that's not even close to our potential and we're already having great results, so I'm very excited about this group and the future of Jax State tennis."
 
Jacksonville State returns to action next weekend, Oct. 12-17, at the ITA Fall Regionals. The Southern Regional event will be held at Auburn's Yarbrough Tennis Center. Men's tennis will round out their fall slate with trips to Chattanooga's UTC Steve Baras Invite (Oct. 27-29) and the Country Club of Birmingham Invite (Oct. 28-30) later this month.
 
"What I want to see from the boys at Auburn is a group that remains hungry," Morris added. "It's about taking this program to the peak one step at a time with the work we put in on a day-to-day basis. My challenge to them is that they continue to stay focused not only on the event, but also the everyday grind."
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Twitter (@JaxStateMTEN), Instagram (@JaxStateMTEN), and Facebook (Jacksonville State Men's Tennis) accounts.