No. 14 Bulldogs win 5 of 7 on Day 1

No. 14 Mississippi Gulf Coast won five of its first seven matches before bad weather ended play at the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship in McKinney, Texas.

The Bulldogs picked up wins at Nos. 3-6 singles and No. 1 doubles, with the last two doubles teams still on the court when rain and lightning shut down play.

"Anderson, Kyle, Orren and Triston all won pretty handily," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "Orren beat a pretty good player bad. We had solid performances in singles from everybody."

Anderson Dulaney (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) beat Lake County's Memphis Gallego 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3, and Kyle Bond (So., Wiggins/Stone) blasted Bevill State's Creed Clardy 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4.

Orren Ladner (So., Perkinston/Stone) didn't drop a game in sweeping USC Sumter's Liam Barry, and Triston Hill (Fr., Perkinston/Stone) handled Paradise Valley's Justin Sowinski in straight sets, as well.

Dulaney and Paul Gayk (So., Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany/Berufskolleg Lehnerstrasse), who played No. 1 doubles together last season, got right back into sync. Reunited after an injury last week to Owen Stice (Fr., Atlanta, Ga./Laurel Springs), they won at No. 1 doubles 6-2, 6-4 over Bevill State's Ayden Anderson and Luke Oliver.

The other doubles teams are in good shape. Bond and Ladner are even in the third set, and Hill and Havard are up in the first.

"Kyle and Orren are in a great match," Blackburn said. "They're playing fantastic. It's one of the best matches I've seen them play all year."

Gayk bounced back from losing his opening match at No. 1 singles. He was the eighth seed in the bracket, but he drew Collin's Seth Seely and lost in three sets.

"Paul had a good match," Blackburn said. "He lost, but it was a good match. The guy he played is good. Paul fought hard and played good tennis."

He and Hiram Havard (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) will play in the consolation brackets. That's expected to take place Tuesday when the tournament gets back on schedule.

"The weather is looking pretty good," Blackburn said. "I don't see much rain on the forecast Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. It's looking pretty decent." 

NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship

The Courts

McKinney, Texas

May 15-19

Monday Results

Championship Bracket Singles Round 1

No. 1: Seth Seely (Collin) def. No. 8 Paul Gayk (Gulf Coast), 6-2, 5-7, 6-0

No. 2: Nick Velders (Prairie State) def. Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast), 6-0, 6-1

No. 3: Anderson Dulaney (Gulf Coast) def. Memphis Gallego (Lake County), 6-1, 6-1

No. 4: Kyle Bond (Gulf Coast) def. Creed Clardy (Bevill State), 6-0, 6-1

No. 5: Orren Ladner (Gulf Coast) def. Liam Barry (USC Sumter), 6-0, 6-0

No. 6: Triston Hill (Gulf Coast) def. Justin Sowinski (Paradise Valley), 6-1, 6-4

Championship Bracket Doubles Round 1

No. 1: Paul Gayk-Anderson Dulaney (Gulf Coast) def. Ayden Anderson-Luke Oliver (Bevill State), 6-2, 6-4

No. 2: Kyle Bond-Orren Ladner (Gulf Coast) vs. Antonin Leborne-Pablo Poleo (Harford), suspended

No. 3: Triston Hill-Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast) vs. Nick Scroppo-Sachin Vavaraja (Prairie State), suspended

Tuesday Schedule

Championship Bracket Singles Round 2

No. 3: Anderson Dulaney (Gulf Coast) vs. No. 2 Tim Riedel (Tyler), 9:15 a.m.

No. 4: Kyle Bond (Gulf Coast) vs. No. 6 Andrew Kunaka (Iowa Central), 9:15 a.m.

No. 5: Orren Ladner (Gulf Coast) vs. No. 6 Zamani Moyo (Iowa Central), 10:30 a.m.

No. 6: Triston Hill (Gulf Coast) vs. Justin Sowinski (Paradise Valley), 10:30 a.m.

Consolation Bracket Singles Round 1

No. 1: No. 8 Paul Gayk (Gulf Coast) vs. Juan Cachaza (Lewis & Clark), 1:30 p.m.

No. 2: Kyle Bond-Orren Ladner (Gulf Coast) vs. Antonin Leborne-Pablo Poleo (Harford), resume at 8 a.m.

No. 3: Triston Hill-Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast) vs. Nick Scroppo-Sachin Vavaraja (Prairie State), resume at 8 a.m.

Wednesday Schedule

Consolation Bracket Singles Quarterfinals

No. 2: Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast) vs. Frichard Mulenga (Mesa), 9:30 a.m.

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