No. 15 Bulldogs crank past No. 17 Meridian
No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast had played a match in about 10 days thanks to spring break, but the Bulldogs didn't show many signs of rust.
The Bulldogs won 7-2 at No. 17 Meridian on Wednesday, improving to 7-1 in MACCC play.
"The men played great," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "Meridian is pretty tough on that side in singles and doubles. We were really happy to come out up 3-0 after doubles."
Blackburn shuffled his second and third doubles combinations a little, but it worked out well. Anderson Dulaney (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) and Triston Hill (Fr., Perkinston/Stone) gutted out a 9-7 win at No. 3 for the third point.
Kyle Bond (So., Wiggins/Stone) came back from dropping the first set at No. 4 singles to help keep the ball rolling.
"Kyle was battling, not paying his best tennis," Blackburn said. "He didn't start very strong but finished extremely well. That really helped us out and got us a key point in singles and got momentum going."
Gulf Coast is now 9-5 overall, breaking a four-match losing streak that came all at the hands of top-10 teams on the road.
Meridian is 8-10, 5-2.
The Bulldogs will play at Perkinston for the first time in three weeks Thursday. They'll host Southwest Mississippi at the MGCCC Tennis Complex. First serves are set for 1 p.m.
Results
Team: Gulf Coast 7, Meridian 2
Doubles
No. 1: Paul Gayk-Owen Stice (GC) def. Sebastian Hernandez-Loic Hiss, 8-6
No. 2: Orren Ladner-Kyle Bond (GC) def. Will McCullough-Parker Lyons, 8-3
No. 3: Anderson Dulaney-Triston Hill (GC) def. Denzel Jones-Nathan Smith, 9-7
Singles
No. 1: Hernandez (MER) def. Gayk, 7-6, 4-6, 12-10
No. 2: Hiss (MER) def. Stice, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3: Dulaney (GC) def. McCullough, 6-3, 6-2
No. 4: Bond (GC) def. Lyons, 2-6, 6-2, 10-4
No. 5: Ladner (GC) def. Jones, 6-2, 6-0
No. 6: Hill (GC) def. Smith, 6-3, 6-0
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