MGCCC plays well at ITA Regionals

Mississippi Gulf Coast tennis coach Gary Bourgeois said both his teams had good results at the ITA Regional Championships held last week in Meridian.

In women's doubles, the Lady Bulldogs' Paulina Estrada and Katie Burrall were runners-up, losing in the finals to Marion Military Institute's Paola Bou and Alana Larcombe 6-1, 6-3. Jasmine Sartin and Kaci Calhoun advanced to the consolation finals, losing 8-3 to Meridian's Jordyn Hull and Taylor Miller.

"I thought we played really well," Bourgeois said. "Getting to the finals of the women's doubles and the consolation bracket shows we can compete with everybody there."

John Murphy advanced to the quarterfinals in the men's singles before losing to Meridian's Jason Pimenta, the eventual champion. Brett Bowen made it to the semifinals of the consolation singles draw.

Murphy teamed with Noah Rowell to make it to the men's doubles semifinals, falling 8-4 to Marion's Daniel Boussom and Andrew Carey.

"We played one of the toughest teams there," Bourgeois said. "The caliber of the play there was incredible."

Bourgeois said the infusion of internationals to MACJC has elevated the play.

"I think we can definitely make some noise on both the men's and women's side," he said. "It's going to come down to the depth of the team. The 1's and 2's at each MACJC team are really solid, so it's going to come down to the 3 through 6."

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.