No. 13 Bulldogs advance to R23 finals

No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast advanced to the finals of the NJCAA Region 23 Men's Championship with ease on Friday, beating No. 19 Copiah-Lincoln 5-3 in Ellisville.

The win sets up a showdown between the Bulldogs, the MACCC champions, and No. 14 Jones, the conference runners-up. The finals are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.

Jones, the second seed, got a 5-1 win over third-seeded Itawamba.

Once again, the Bulldogs displayed the depth of its lineup. 

"The bottom of our lineup really stepped up in singles play, like they have the whole entire season," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn. "Once again they got the W for us and brought us to the finals."

Pedro Molero (Fr., Maracaibo, Venezuela/U.E. Instituto Americano Joseph John Thomson) and Clay Fudge (Fr., Madison/Madison Central) blanked Ty Nelson and Lawson Pearson 8-0 in No. 2 doubles. Anderson Dulaney (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) and Jackson Ward (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) won at No. 3 doubles, beating Skyler Rasberry and John Ready 8-5 for a 2-1 lead headed to singles.

"We went down 1-2 after doubles last time we played them. We were up 2-1 on them today, which was massive, and we were a point away from being 3-0. It showed how well we came out to play in the beginning."

Wesley Fontaine (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) won his No. 3 singles match dropping only three games to Nelson, while Fudge double-bageled Pearson at No. 4. Dulaney also dominated Ready at No. 5, winning 6-0, 6-1.

Gulf Coast is now 18-2 on the season, and the Bulldogs have not lost to an MACCC opponent. MGCCC has also clinched a trip to the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship next month in Plano, Texas.

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 5, Copiah-Lincoln 3

Doubles

No. 1: Julian Toloza/Julian Parada (CL) def. Seth Macute-Wesley Fontaine, 8-6

No. 2: Pedro Molero-Clay Fudge (GC) def. Ty Nelson-Lawson Pearson, 8-0

No. 3: Anderson Dulaney-Jackson Ward (GC) def. Skyler Rasberry-John Ready, 8-5

Singles

No. 1: Toloza (CL) def. Macute, 6-1, 6-1

No. 2: Parada (CL) def. Molero, 6-0, 6-1

No. 3: Fontaine (GC) def. Nelson, 6-2, 6-1

No. 4: Fudge (GC) def. Pearson, 6-0, 6-0

No. 5: Dulaney (GC) def. Ready, 6-0, 6-1

NJCAA Region 23 Men's Tennis Championship

Ellisville, Miss.

Thursday, April 15

Quarterfinals

No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln 5, No. 5 East Central 1

No. 3 Itawamba 5, No. 6 Meridian 4

Friday, April 16

Semifinals

No. 1 Gulf Coast 5, No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln 3

No. 2 Jones 5, No. 3 Itawamba 1

Saturday, April 17

Finals

No. 2 Jones vs. No. 1 Gulf Coast, 2 p.m.

Third-place match

No. 3 Itawamba vs. No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln, 2 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.