No. 13 MGCCC Men clinch share of title

PERKINSTON — No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast clinched a share of the MACCC men's tennis championship with an 8-1 thrashing of No. 21 Itawamba at the MGCCC Tennis Complex.

"We've had our ups and downs at different parts of the lineup, but the bottom of the lineup has been solid the whole season," first-year coach Sam Blackburn said. "The top of the lineup has gotten better as the season has gone on, and I'm super impressed by that. I couldn't ask for a harder-working, more-resilient team than that."

The Bulldogs remain unbeaten in 15 conference matches and head to Jones on Friday for the regular-season finale. A win will mean an outright MACCC title.

All three doubles teams won their matches by only dropping two games against ICC. Seth Macute (Fr., Brisbane, Australia/St Joseph's Nudgee College) and Wesley Fontaine (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) crushed at No. 1, Pedro Molero (Fr., Maracaibo, Venezuela/U.E. Instituto Americano Joseph John Thomson) and Clay Fudge) cruised at No. 2, and Anderson Dulaney (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) and Jackson Ward (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) dominated at No. 3.

Gulf Coast won five of six singles matches to close out the win and at least a piece of the state championship.

"It means a lot," Blackburn said. "Coming here after playing here and being an assistant coach here, claiming that title is pretty cool. It means a lot to me. The guys have worked really hard for it, and they've earned it."

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 8, Itawamba 1

Doubles

No. 1: Seth Macute-Wesley Fontaine (GC) def. Sergio Garcia-Rhonzo Olachea, 8-2

No. 2: Pedro Molero-Clay Fudge (GC) def. Jacambrian Madlock-Grayson Godbold, 8-2

No. 3: Anderson Dulaney-Jackson Ward (GC) def. Torean King-Russell Moorman, 8-2

Singles

No. 1: Garcia (ICC) def. Macute, 6-4, 7-6

No. 2: Molero (GC) def. Olachea, 6-4, 6-1

No. 3: Fontaine (GC) def. Godbold, 6-1, 6-4

No. 4: Fudge (GC) def. Madlock, 6-1, 7-5

No. 5: Dulaney (GC) def. Moorman, 6-4, 6-7, 10-5

No. 6: Ward (GC) def. King, 7-5, 6-3

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