JACKSONVILLE – Before Jacksonville State men's tennis takes the court for regular season action in the Spring, the Gamecocks will take part in four Fall invites. Along with hosting the Gamecock Invite in September, Jax State will head to events at Chattanooga, Samford, and the Country Club of Birmingham, and try for strong showings at ITA Fall Regionals and ITA All-Americans.
 
After serving as the program's associate head coach in the Spring, Trey Morris begins his stint as the team's official head coach this fall. His first event with that title will be the Gamecock Invite, which will take place Sept. 15-17 at the Jax State Tennis Courts.
 
"It's going to be an exciting event for us at home," Morris said. "For us to be able to play on our home courts and not have to worry about the logistics of travel to get our guys some exposure is a huge advantage. In the past we've had some Fall events here, but this one will be done a little differently. We'll have schools coming in from all over the southeast and it will be very competitive. We're looking to have some fun with it, but we're also going to be trying to win the event and keep the trophy at home."
 
Two weeks later, the Gamecocks will continue their Fall 2023 slate with a trip to Birmingham for the Samford Invite. Jacksonville State will head to Chattanooga in late October for the UT Chatt Invite before sending several student-athletes to the Country Club of Birmingham (CCB) Invite from Oct. 28-30.
 
Furthermore, Morris' men are expecting good outings in a pair of Intercollegiate Tennis Association events. The ITA All-Americans will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Tulsa, Okla., and ITA Fall Regionals follow on Oct. 12-16 in Auburn.
 
"We're expecting to take the majority of our squad to the invites at Chattanooga and Samford and it'll be a great chance for our guys to get matches that we desperately need, both for ranking and developmental purposes," Morris said. "Our goals at those events, as well as the ITA showcases and the trip to CCB, is the same goal as the one at home. At our program, there's not a match we play or an event we participate in where we're not there to come back with hardware."
 
The good news for Jax State is that, ahead of a challenging Fall schedule, the program returns six key contributors from last season's squad. Rising senior Vanja Dobrnjac is back for his third year in Calhoun County along with junior Logan Haga, redshirt sophomore Lucius Soller, and sophomores Alin Fatu, Matei Palcau, and Xavier Sarda Marti.
 
"We've got an extremely strong group of returners this year," Morris said. "Last year we had freshmen at the top three spots, a junior at No. 4 singles, and a sophomore at No. 5. Each of those guys are coming back along with Logan Haga, who was a consistent starter in doubles for us. To have all six guys that we have returning being impact guys in the Fall will be massive."
 
Jacksonville State also inked one of the best recruiting classes in the nation this offseason. The Gamecocks brought in three veteran transfers in Liam Day of Francis Marion, Saint Leo's Ivan Marrero Curbelo, and Monmouth star Charlie Penman. In addition, their incoming freshman class of Indian standout Aman Dahiya, Austrian National Team member Marko Milosavljevic, and Montverde Academy's Zach Murphy was ranked as the 33^rd-best class in the country and the best in the state of Alabama.
 
"There's also a great group of young men coming in this Fall from across the globe," Morris said. "What we've been able to do as a staff is find a nice mixture of true freshmen and guys with college tennis experience."
 
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