Men’s Tennis ready to defend Region 23 title

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast won the NJCAA Region 23 men's tennis championship last year, and the Bulldogs have a young team in 2024 to defend that title.

"It's a lot of freshmen," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "They're going to learn a lot about how college tennis is different. I see it every year. To see the improvement from January to May is really cool. The fact they're already so good now is really exciting."

The Bulldogs are playing a series of scrimmages against four-year schools to tune up for the season-opener against Coastal Alabama-South. The teams will meet at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 10. Gulf Coast plays its first match on Feb. 13 when Itawamba visits to open the MACCC season.

The MACCC expanded the out-of-state limit for players to three years, and that's changed the dynamics of the lineup and the calculus to win matches.

Gulf Coast happens to have three new internationals to fill those slots. The Iberian Connection features to Portuguese and one Spanish newcomer. Gonzalo Cotter (Fr., Valencia, Spain/IVLA) breaks strings daily with his nasty, grip-and-rip forehand. Duarte Mestre (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundária Sebastiao e Silva) has what Blackburn calls one of the best backhands in junior college tennis, and Vicente Faria (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundária de Fonseca Benevides) is a tall and tricky lefty who hits a flat deep ball.

"I'm not used to having all freshmen internationals," Blackburn said. "It's exciting because they're going to grow and get better. They'll get used to the college environment and see that's it's not just playing tournaments on their own."

Gulf Coast captains Triston Hill (So., Perkinston/Stone) and John Thomas Frank (So., Eupora/Eupora) played on the region championship team, along with Hiram Havard (So., Vancleave/Vancleave)

Cooper Caplan (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs), Smith Walker (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport), Jeremiah Layton (Fr., Brookhaven/Brookhaven) and Grant Wilson (Fr., Hurley/East Central) are the team's Mississippi newcomers.

Gulf Coast and Jones split the region and conference champions last year and expect to be among the best in the MACCC again. Meridian is solid, as are Copiah-Lincoln and Itawamba.

"The extra international makes things a lot more interesting," Blackburn said. "If a couple of guys for a team are really on that day, it's a battle even if your bottom guys are a little stronger. Every match is going to be tough. It's going to make the level of our league higher." 

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