No. 13 MGCCC Women cruise past ICC

PERKINSTON — The No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast women's tennis team played its last home match of the season Tuesday, and they bid adieu to the MGCCC Tennis Complex in style.

The Bulldogs bounced Itawamba 8-1 to improve to 14-2 overall and 11-2 in MACCC play.

"They've faced some challenges that we did not expect, and they've pushed through and risen to the occasion," first-year coach Sam Blackburn said. "It all started with doubles."

Kaylen Bond (So., Stone/Perkinston) and Anna Stringer (So., Stone/Wiggins) have been the pairing at No. 2 doubles for two years, and they marched through their match, winning 8-3.

Because of some lineup attrition, the other two doubles pairings have been shifted around this season. Tia Topps (So., Grenada/Grenada) and Ashley Chelette (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) won their No. 3 match 8-3.

"They cleaned it up easy," Blackburn said. "Ashley and Tia haven't played together a whole lot this year, but it looked like they'd played together the whole year. I'm super proud of them."

Krissy Georgieva (So., Epsom and Ewell High School/Sutton, England) and Kasey Kent (Fr., Ridgeland/Ridgeland) were the last to finish, and it was a battle. They won a tiebreaker 7-5 for a 9-8 win.

"They haven't played a lot together, but they played well in a super-tight match," said Blackburn.

The Bulldogs won five of six singles matches, all in straight sets. They'll close out the regular season Friday with a trip to Jones. First serves are set for 2 p.m.

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 8, Itawamba 1

Doubles

No. 1: Krissy Georgieva-Kasey Kent (GC) def. Gaia del Sordo-Lexi Kent, 9-8 (7-5)

No. 2: Kaylen Bond-Anna Stringer (GC) def. Madelyn Angle-Brianna Hibbler, 8-3

No. 3: Ashley Chelette-Tia Topps (GC) def. Brianna Ball-Addison Smith, 8-3

Singles

No. 1: Georgieva (GC) def. del Sordo, 6-3, 6-4

No. 2: K. Kent (GC) def. L. Kent, 6-1, 6-2

No. 3: Bond (GC) def. Angle, 6-3, 6-3

No. 4: Hibbler (ICC) def. Stringer, 6-0, 6-1

No. 5: Topps (GC) def. Ball, 6-3, 6-0

No. 6: Chelette (GC) def. Sydney Ferguson, 6-2, 6-1

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