No. 12 Bulldogs top No. 19 Meridian

No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast racked up its first top-20 men's tennis win of the season Tuesday, beating No. 19 Meridian on the road 7-2.

"They did well," Blackburn said. "We're excited to get a good 7-2 win, but I think we're also feeling good that we know we could have done better."

Gulf Coast improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the MACCC after taking charge by winning two of three doubles courts. Gonzalo Cotter (So., Valencia, Spain/IVLA) and Ryland Buford won their No. 2 doubles match 8-6, and the duo of Jordan Mitchell (Fr., Natchez/Natchez) and Nick Dulaney (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) set the tone for the lower part of the roster by winning 8-1 at No. 3.

They each lost only one game in sweeping their singles matches, and Ryland Buford (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3.

"We faced some adversity," Blackburn said. "Meridian was playing good at the top, but Gonzalo (Cotter) found a way to get a really good singles win."

Cotter (So., Valencia, Spain/IVLA) won his No. 1 match in three sets.

Meridian is now 4-1 overall, 1-1 MACCC.

Gulf Coast entertains Northeast Mississippi in another conference match Friday. First serves at the MGCCC Tennis Complex are set for 2 p.m.

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 7, Meridian 2

Doubles

No. 1: ViceSimon Ojeda-Daniel Espin (MER) def. Vicente Faria-Moritz Stroebel, 8-6

No. 2: Gonzalo Cotter-Ryland Buford (GC) def. Badlwim Escobar-Mark Little, 8-4

No. 3: Jordan Mitchell-Nick Dulaney (GC) def. Jack Tudor-Blakeny Allen, 8-1

Singles

No. 1: Cotter (GC) def. Ojeda, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5

No. 2: Espin (MER) def. Faria, 7-6, 6-4

No. 3: Stroebel (GC) def. Escobar, 6-3, 6-2

No. 4: Buford (GC) def. Little, 6-1, 6-2

No. 5: Dulaney (GC) def. Tudor, 6-1, 6-0

No. 6: Mitchell (GC) def. Allen, 6-0, 6-1

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