Gayk wins No. 1 singles consolation in Texas
Paul Gayk won the No. 1 singles consolation bracket Thursday at the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, beating a pair of opponents to close out No. 14 Mississippi Gulf Coast's tournament.
The Bulldogs finished 15th. They were five spots behind Jones and two ahead of Meridian. East Central, Hinds and Northwest were also competing in McKinney, Texas.
Gulf Coast lost No. 2 singles player Owen Stice to injury about a week before the tournament, which caused the Bulldogs to juggle their lineup.
"One of the goals was for the guys to be playing for each other, and they did," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "Having Owen out was unfortunate, but I was really proud of Hiram (Havard). He played some really good tennis and got a win at 3-doubles. The team was there for each other, which was awesome. I'm not disappointed."
Gayk, a sophomore from Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany, beat Barton's Gustavo Campos 8-6 in the semifinals. Campos was the fourth seed in the tournament; Gayk was the eighth.
"To have two seeded players going at it like that was really cool to see," Blackburn said. "It was a good match. Paul was just a little more solid in that match. His serve helped him throughout the whole backdraw, which allowed him to loosen up and get some breaks. The semifinal was a good display against a good player."
Gayk topped USC Sumter's Mathis 8-4 in the final.
Kyle Bond (So., Wiggins/Stone) and Orren Ladner (So., Perkinston/Stone) dropped their No. 2 doubles consolation semifinal to Meridian's Parker Lyons and Will McCullough 8-4.
NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship
The Courts
McKinney, Texas
May 15-19
Thursday Results
Consolation Bracket Singles Semifinal
No. 1: No. 8 Paul Gayk (Gulf Coast) def. No. 4 Gustavo Campos (Barton), 8-6
Consolation Bracket Doubles Semifinal
No. 2: Parker Lyons-Will McCullough (Meridian) def. Kyle Bond-Orren Ladner (Gulf Coast), 8-4
Consolation Bracket Doubles Final
No. 1: No. 8 Paul Gayk (Gulf Coast) vs. Mathis Collignon (USC Sumter), 8-4
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