No. 13 Bulldogs sweep to No. 2 seed

PERKINSTON — No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast will end the MACCC men's tennis season right where they ended it last year. The Bulldogs wrapped up the No. 2 spot in the conference by beating Northwest Mississippi 5-0 in a rain-shortened match at the MGCCC Tennis Complex on Tuesday.

Last year, Gulf Coast turned the No. 2 seed in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament into a championship.

"We were in this position last year, and it ended up working out really good for us," Bulldogs coach Sam Blackburn. "I'm excited for the next few weeks to see where we end up, and hopefully we'll make it to nationals."

Gulf Coast swept through the three doubles matches against the Rangers, dropping only five games.

Duarte Mestre and Triston Hill wrapped up their singles matches with identical 6-0, 6-1 scores. They were the only courts that finished before rain stopped play.

Gulf Coast celebrated Sophomore Day in ceremonies before the match. They saluted Hill, John Thomas Frank and Hiram Havard, who closed out their Perk playing careers Tuesday.

"We've got a key group of guys who will be leaving us after this year, and we'll miss them a lot," Blackburn said. "Through their leadership and experience, they've really helped get these freshmen ready to jump into the leadership spots they need to be in next year. I'm really proud of them, and they've done incredible things."

Results

Team: Gulf Coast men 5, Northwest Mississippi 0

Doubles

No. 1: Gonzalo Cotter-Vicente Faria (GC) def. Joshua Tedford-Gabe Koonce, 8-3

No. 2: Duarte Mestre-John Thomas Frank (GC) def. Spencer Rios-Campbell Owen, 8-2

No. 3: Hiram Havard-Triston Hill (GC) def. Chambers Lane-Gunner Pitt, 8-0

Singles

No. 3: Mestre (GC) def. Rios, 6-0, 6-1

No. 4: Hill (GC) def. Lane, 6-0, 6-1

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