JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State men's tennis lost a back-and-forth affair in Monday's 4-3 loss to Georgia Southern. A slim sudden-death heartbreaker in doubles and a three-set singles defeat lifted the Eagles to a tight win at the Jax State Tennis Courts.

"Today was a tough match," head coach Trey Morris said. "Georgia Southern is a great team and they have been that way for the last couple years. We knew it would be a battle going in, but unfortunately for us it took until the halfway-point of the match to wake up."
 
Jax State (8-6) battled back from a poor start but fell just short in doubles play. After a decisive loss in No. 3 doubles, the veteran tandem of Vanja Dobrnjac and Lucius Soller scored a 6-2 result on court two. Unfortunately, the Eagles' (5-7) top team narrowly downed Marko Milosavljevic and Zach Murphy, 7-5, to take the opening point.
 
Georgia Southern raced to the brink of victory after tallying two singles wins. Xavier Sarda Marti's 7-5, 6-2, triumph in No. 3 singles was sandwiched by two-set decisions on courts three and five that favored GSU. Though the Gamecocks battled back to force three three-set showdowns to end singles play, only two resulted in wins as Milosavljevic (6-1, 3-6, 6-1) and Liam Day (4-6, 7-5, 6-2) came out on top. In the end, the Eagles posted a 4-3 match victory in their first ever contest in Jacksonville.

"These guys are fighters and we're extremely proud of them," Morris said. "The work rate they're putting in is going to earn them success by the time it's all said and done. It's a long season and we're just getting started."
 
The Gamecocks return to the road this weekend for a pair of matches away from home. They play at Southern Miss at 2 p.m. Saturday, then take on New Orleans at 2 p.m. Sunday. Fans unable to attend can follow along with live stats links provided at JaxStateSports.com.
 
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Facebook (Jacksonville State Men's Tennis), Instagram (@JaxStateMTEN), and X (@JaxStateMTEN) accounts.