BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Aman Dahiya advanced to the finals of his singles draw and several Gamecocks tallied individual wins in the successful Country Club of Birmingham Invite last weekend. That outing by the squad serves as another sign of growth by Jacksonville State men's tennis during their Fall schedule.
 
"It was a solid weekend for us," head coach Trey Morris said. "It was a great weekend for Aman Dahiya, who we think really turned a corner on his Fall. We're very proud of him."
 
Dahiya, a true freshman from Sonipat, India, had a big invitational in Jefferson County. He opened action in the CCB Invite's Red Singles Draw with a three-set win over the College of Charleston's Eddie Vo, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, then downed Sandeep Mohandoss of Samford in two sets. The first-year Gamecock scored a massive 6-1, 6-1, triumph over Tulane standout Hady Elkordy in the flight's semifinals before falling to North Alabama's Lachlan Brain in the final match.
 
That deep run in a competitive flight shows definite improvement by Dahiya, a big piece of Jacksonville State's 2023 recruiting class which was ranked No. 1 in Alabama by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
 
"We're also very proud of Matei Palcau and the way he approached things," Morris added. "The rest of the guys also had a good tournament. I saw a lot of progress from our guys mentally, which is big thing at this point in the year."
 
Sophomore Matei Palcau won three matches in the Red Singles Draw as well. After defeating Henry Lamchinniah of Southern Miss 6-4, 6-1, the Romanian suffered a three-set heartbreaker to UAB's Ondrej Valek. Once in the consolation bracket, however, Paclau caught fire again, secure back-to-back wins over competitors from Alabama State and Washington to close out the event.
 
Each Jax State student-athlete that made the trip picked up at least one win at the Country Club of Birmingham. Vanja Dobrnjac and Marko Milosavljevic added two wins each in the Blue Singles Draw while Xavier Sarda Marti tallied a first-round victory over Javier Montoya, South Alabama's top singles player. Zach Murphy won his first two contests, downing opponents from Alabama State and Tulane.
 
Three doubles teams represented Jacksonville State at the event. Dobrnjac and Milosavljevic participated in the Red Doubles Draw. In the Bulldog Doubles Draw, Dahiya and Murphy knocked off a pair from UAB and the tandem of Palcau and Sarda Marti did the same to competitors from Alabama State. That set up a Gamecocks-versus-Gamecocks battle in the consolation finals as the former group reigned supreme over their teammates, 7-6 (3).
 
Jacksonville State men's tennis concludes their Fall schedule this week. Part of the team will travel to Florence, Ala., to take part in the North Alabama Invitational over the weekend. Meanwhile, Ivan Marrero Curbelo will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., for another ITF Futures test.
 
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