No. 12 Gulf Coast drops tight match to No. 11 WSCC

PERKINSTON — No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast's showdown against No. 11 Wallace State went down to the final point on the final court, and the Bulldogs came up just short.

They lost 5-4 at the MGCCC Tennis Complex.

"It's a good team we played," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "We knew we were going to have a good team to play, and a lot happened in the match. It went up and down, a million different directions. It came down to the last match, and we lost the last point. That's how it goes sometimes. The guys put themselves in a chance to win, and that's all you can ask for."

Vicente Faria (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundária de Fonseca Benevides) picked up points at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles.

Gonzalo Cotter (Fr., Valencia, Spain/IVLA) was his doubles partner, and he also got his singles point on the No. 1 court.

"Cotter has had a couple of tough matches the last two days," Blackburn said. "I told him before the match started that today was going to be a mental toughness test, and he passed. He grinded it out after losing a tough first set against a really good player."

Gulf Coast has what will likely be its biggest match of the year Tuesday. The Bulldogs will travel to Ellisville to play No. 13 Jones. The Bobcats won the MACCC title last year, and Gulf Coast claimed the Region 23 championship. The teams are unbeaten in the MACCC.

First serves are set for 2 p.m.

Results

Team: Wallace State Men 5, Gulf Coast 4

Doubles

No. 1: Gonzalo Cotter-Vicente Faria (GC) def. Kye Bennett-Jace Moody, 8-4

No. 2: Triston Hill-Duarte Mestre (GC) def. Juan Amor-Sam Higgins, 8-5

No. 3: Brett Foster-Jose Munoz (WS) def. Smith Walker-Jeremiah Layton, 8-0

Singles

No. 1: Cotter (GC) def. Bennett, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3

No. 2: Faria (WS) def. Munoz, 6-0, 6-0

No. 3: Ferran Bonastre (WS) def. Mestre, 1-6, 1-4 (default)

No. 4: Moody (WS) def. Hill, 6-0, 6-3

No. 5: Foster (WS) def. Hiram Havard, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4

No. 6: Ruben Pablo (WS) def. Layton, 6-1, 6-1

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.