JACKSONVILLE – Following Wednesday's tough 4-1 setback at North Alabama, Jacksonville State men's tennis is set to wrap up the 2023 regular season Saturday in metro Birmingham. The Gamecocks will take on Austin Peay at the Mountain Brook YMCA starting at 4 p.m.
 
The match, which was originally slated to take place at the JSU Tennis Courts, was moved to the indoor facility in Jefferson County due to the likelihood of storms on Saturday.
 
Jax State (11-10, 3-4) has had an up-and-down last two weeks. After posting a dominant 6-1 victory at Queens on March 24, Morris' men dropped consecutive league matches against Liberty and North Florida. They rebounded with a 5-2 triumph against Kennesaw State on Sunday, earning their first win over the Owls in nine seasons, then fell in a surprising loss in Florence on Wednesday. A talented Gamecock squad will try to improve their ASUN Tournament seeding a bit and end the regular season on the right foot with a win over a struggling squad this weekend.
 
Austin Peay (4-13, 1-6) has not had the Spring they were hoping for. The young Governors had not defeated a Division I opponent until upsetting Lipscomb, 4-3, at home on March 24. Since then, they dropped three decisive contests to Eastern Kentucky, Florida Gulf Coast, and Stetson, and lost 4-3 at Lipscomb on Wednesday.
 
Saturday's showdown in Mountain Brook will mark the 18^th meeting all-time between the former Ohio Valley Conference rivals. Jax State leads the series 12-5 after winning the last four pairings. The Gamecocks have historically taken care of business against APSU, a team they defeated seven years in a row from 2004-10.
 
Along with serving as the 2023 ASUN Conference regular season finale, Saturday's match will serve as the Morgan's Message Dedication Game for the men's tennis squad. The Jacksonville State University Athletic Department will be dedicating the contest to the life and legacy of Morgan Rodgers, a former Duke University lacrosse student-athlete who died tragically in July 2019 after battling mental health struggles. Morgan's Message was created by her family and former teammates with the mission to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health, normalize the conversations about mental health and ensure that mental health is treated equally to physical health for all student-athletes. For more information on Morgan's life and legacy and how you can help those with mental health struggles, please visit morgansmessage.org.
 
Links to follow along with Saturday's match against APSU will be provided at JSUGamecockSports.com. The women's contest will follow the men's match and has first serve slated for 7 p.m.
 
Jacksonville State's men will return to action on Thurs., Apr. 13 in the first round of the ASUN Conference Tournament. Their opponent and the location of that match will be determined after this week's results.
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Twitter (@JaxStateTN), Instagram (@JaxStateWTennis), and Facebook (Jacksonville State University Tennis) accounts.