THIBODAUX, La. – A hot start carried into singles play for Jacksonville State men's tennis in Thursday's 5-2 road victory at Nicholls. That triumph in stormy Louisiana evens the team's season record up to .500 and serves as a big opening to their weekend road trip.
"This is a great team win," head coach
Trey Morris said. "As a group, we had to deal with a challenging environment in its own, unique way, and our guys rose to the occasion. Given what we were dealt, we knew that it might not necessarily be our best tennis. Despite that, some guys still found incredible results on a few courts and we were able to get the win pretty quickly."
Jax State (2-2) rolled to a clean sweep over the Colonels (1-1) in doubles play at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex. The duos of
Vanja Dobrnjac and
Lucius Soller (6-4) and
Liam Day and
Alin Fatu (6-3) clinched the match's opening point before the freshman tandem of
Marko Milosavljevic and
Zach Murphy added another 6-4 result for good measure.
A pair of dominant one-on-one triumphs kicked off singles action in the Pelican State. Milosavljevic (6-0, 6-0) and Day (6-2, 6-0) picked up two-set wins on courts four and six to put the Gamecocks on the brink of victory. Dobrnjac, a senior standout from Bosnia and Herzegovina, tallied a 6-3, 6-1, win over Quentin Lamothe of Nicholls to sure-up the road victory. In the day's final showdown, Fatu completed the comeback with a 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (10-4) decision in the top flight.
"We've got some things we need to work on, but as a team I'm very happy with the way we handled the environment and challenges," Morris added. "It was a great team win today. We're excited to enjoy this one tonight and then get ready for a couple more coming up Saturday in Texas."
The Gamecocks continue their weekend road trip on Saturday with a pair of matches in Waco, Texas. They will take on No. 24 Baylor at 10 a.m. before duking it out with Incarnate Word at 2 p.m. Links to watch or follow along with live stats for both matches will be provided at JaxStateSports.com.
The men's tennis program will head to Kennesaw State on Sun., Feb. 11, then return home on Sat., Feb. 17, to play host to Troy in the 2024 home opener.
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Men's Tennis), Instagram (@JaxStateMTEN), and X (@JaxStateMTEN) accounts.
