Sunday, March 24
JACKSONVILLE
1 P.M.
Jacksonville State University
vs
Samford
Gamecocks Host Samford For Senior Day on Sunday
3/23/2024 11:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's tennis team will conclude Spring Break with an in-state battle with Samford on Sunday afternoon at the Jax State Tennis Courts.
The Gamecocks will honor its two seniors prior to the 1 p.m. start time. Jax State's roster features just two seniors that have made an immediate impact to the program as Vanja Dobrnjac has been a member of the Gamecocks for three seasons and Ivan Marrero Curbelo joining the team prior to this season.
Jax State's Sunday will be a busy one as it will make up its previously scheduled match with Wallace State Community College at 5 p.m. Admission is free to all Jax State home matches and the program will be serving free hamburgers to fans at the match with Samford.
Dobrnjac is a three-year member of the Jax State tennis program from Banja Lika, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has a career record of 32-18 in singles play, including nine wins this season and 23 wins in soubles action throughout his career. He spent a year at Charlotte prior to coming to Jacksonville. His accolades include being named ASUN Player of the Week during the 2023 season and was tabbed the Jax State Men's Tennis Most Valuable Player and was named Conference USA's Player of the Month last November. He will graduate from Jax State with a degree in exercise science.
Curbelo joined the Gamecocks after a stellar career at Saint Leo University. He posted an 18-9 mark in singles and was equally impressive in doubles with a 16-6 mark. Curbelo led the Lions to a 23-3 overall mark in 2023. He has collected four wins at the top singles spot this season. He will graduate with a degree in economics from Jax State.
Jax State (11-7) is coming off a split of a pair of road matches during Spring Break. The club opened the weekend with a blanking of UNC Asheville last Monday and a tough 4-3 setback to former ASUN rival North Florida on Wednesday. The Bulldogs enter the match on a roll by winning their last seven matches, including a 3-0 start in the Southern Conference.
"We know them very well and saw them during the fall at different invites and they are a very quality group one through six and all those guys can play," said head coach Trey Morris. "We are expecting a tough team and a tough battle, but we have a tough team as well and excited for this opportunity on Sunday."
Morris is hoping to see progression from his squad as they hit the final portion of the regular season and the challenges are out there after the last week on the road.
"We have fallen short in a couple of matches and have been in some tight ones this year," added Morris. We feel like we should be coming out victorious and those are tough to take, but they are growth opportunities for us," continued Morris.
Following the matches on Sunday, the Gamecocks will play the final four matches away from Jacksonville to prepare for the Conference USA Championship in in mid April on the Middle Tennessee campus.
The Gamecocks will honor its two seniors prior to the 1 p.m. start time. Jax State's roster features just two seniors that have made an immediate impact to the program as Vanja Dobrnjac has been a member of the Gamecocks for three seasons and Ivan Marrero Curbelo joining the team prior to this season.
Jax State's Sunday will be a busy one as it will make up its previously scheduled match with Wallace State Community College at 5 p.m. Admission is free to all Jax State home matches and the program will be serving free hamburgers to fans at the match with Samford.
Dobrnjac is a three-year member of the Jax State tennis program from Banja Lika, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has a career record of 32-18 in singles play, including nine wins this season and 23 wins in soubles action throughout his career. He spent a year at Charlotte prior to coming to Jacksonville. His accolades include being named ASUN Player of the Week during the 2023 season and was tabbed the Jax State Men's Tennis Most Valuable Player and was named Conference USA's Player of the Month last November. He will graduate from Jax State with a degree in exercise science.
Curbelo joined the Gamecocks after a stellar career at Saint Leo University. He posted an 18-9 mark in singles and was equally impressive in doubles with a 16-6 mark. Curbelo led the Lions to a 23-3 overall mark in 2023. He has collected four wins at the top singles spot this season. He will graduate with a degree in economics from Jax State.
Jax State (11-7) is coming off a split of a pair of road matches during Spring Break. The club opened the weekend with a blanking of UNC Asheville last Monday and a tough 4-3 setback to former ASUN rival North Florida on Wednesday. The Bulldogs enter the match on a roll by winning their last seven matches, including a 3-0 start in the Southern Conference.
"We know them very well and saw them during the fall at different invites and they are a very quality group one through six and all those guys can play," said head coach Trey Morris. "We are expecting a tough team and a tough battle, but we have a tough team as well and excited for this opportunity on Sunday."
Morris is hoping to see progression from his squad as they hit the final portion of the regular season and the challenges are out there after the last week on the road.
"We have fallen short in a couple of matches and have been in some tight ones this year," added Morris. We feel like we should be coming out victorious and those are tough to take, but they are growth opportunities for us," continued Morris.
Following the matches on Sunday, the Gamecocks will play the final four matches away from Jacksonville to prepare for the Conference USA Championship in in mid April on the Middle Tennessee campus.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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