No. 15 MGCCC Aims to Claim Region 23 Men’s Tennis Title

No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast Men’s Tennis finished second in this year’s MACCC standings and will play as the second seed in the NJCAA R23 Men’s Tennis Championship in Ellisville, hosted by the first-seed Jones College Bobcats.

The Bulldogs will play their first match tomorrow against the seventh-seed and 23rd-ranked East Central Warriors, which is set to begin at 1 p.m. The two teams faced off at Perkinston on April 1, and Gulf Coast came up victorious 8-1.

The team is hoping to bring home a championship this week, and Coach Sam Blackburn feels that the team is prepared.

“It’s no surprise that our goal is to go in there and win the tournament this week,” Blackburn noted. “I know that we are fully capable if we play our best tennis, but we’re gonna have to play our best tennis in order to do so. That’s the goal, and I think we’re ready for it.”

The winner of Thursday’s match will face off against the winner of third-seed Itawamba and sixth-seed Meridian. Gulf Coast defeated both of these teams earlier this season, winning 7-2 in each match.

This season, all eight of the teams competing in the regional are ranked in the ITA top 25, which makes for an intense and exciting tournament. The top three teams from this tournament will be selected to compete in the NJCAA Division II championship in Florence, South Carolina, beginning May 12.

Author administrator Kellen Walker