Gayk pulls upset at NJCAAs
Paul Gayk will carry the flag for No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast into the quarterfinals after upsetting a seeded player Tuesday in the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship in Tyler, Texas.
He defeated Mesa's Austreberto Carlon, who was the eight-seed, 6-3, 6-2.
"Paul is playing really good tennis," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "I thought Paul could have been the eight-seed, and played really, really well. From the first ball of the tournament, he's been playing good in singles and in doubles. He's keeping it rolling in singles. He's locked in. It's a good way to finish the season for him."
The Bulldogs are tied for 13th place in the team standings after the second day. They have 15 points, a half-point behind MACCC-rival Jones.
Gulf Coast won seven matches on the first day, but the freshman from Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany, was the only one to advance Tuesday. The Bulldogs lost the other six championship draw matches and one consolation bracket match. Chace Bolan (Fr., Laurel/Northeast Jones) begins in the No. 6 singles consolation bracket Wednesday afternoon. If he wins, he'll get a full point because he had a bye into the quarterfinals.
Gayk nearly got a second victory Tuesday. He and Anderson Dulaney (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) almost upset seven-seed Ignacio Orgaz and Saranpahon Siriwanichkul from Abraham Baldwin.
"They were down 2-5 in the first set and came back to 5-all," Blackburn said. "They had game points to go up 6-5, but that was a good team they hung in there with. They really had a chance to take them down in the first set. They've been a good team all year, but really played well here."
They wound up losing 7-5, 6-3.
Gayk will play Takeshi Taco of Cowley at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Taco is the top seed in No. 1 singles.
NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship
Murphy Tennis Center, Tyler, Texas
May 16-20 (All times CT)
Tuesday's Results
Championship Draw
Singles
No. 1: Paul Gayk (GC) vs. (8) Austreberto Carlon (Mesa), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: (2) Cheng En Tsai (Abraham Baldwin) def. Clay Fudge (GC), 6-1, 6-0
No. 3: (1) Kylian Savary (Seward) def. Pedro Molero (GC), 6-0, 6-0
No. 4: (2) Gaston Erhardt (Cowley) def. Anderson Dulaney (GC), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1: (1) Luciano Fisicaro-Karlo Krolo (Seward) def. Clay Fudge-Pedro Molero (GC), 6-1, 6-2
No. 2: (7) Ignacio Orgaz-Saranpahon Siriwanichkul (Abraham Baldwin) def. Paul Gayk-Anderson Dulaney (GC), 7-5, 6-3
No. 3: (2) Mauri Gonzalez-Franco Vecchia (Seward) def. Kyle Bond-Chace Bolan (GC), 6-1, 6-0
Consolation Draw
Singles
No. 5: Duncan Mulenga (Mesa) def. Kyle Bond (GC), 8-2
Wednesday's Schedule
Championship Draw
Singles Quarterfinals
No. 1: Paul Gayk (GC) vs. (1) Takeshi Taco (Cowley), 8 a.m.
Consolation Draw
Singles Quarterfinals
No. 6: Chace Bolan (GC) vs. TBD, 11 a.m.
For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
