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UPDATE: No. 13 Gulf Coast aiming for R23 title

UPDATE: No. 13 Gulf Coast aiming for R23 title

UPDATE: Release has been updated to include Thursday's results that have the Bulldogs playing East Central on Friday.

PERKINSTON — No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast heads to the NJCAA Region 23 Women's Tennis Championship in Ellisville as the second seed. The Bulldogs still have their sights set higher than that.

"We want to go up there and win the tournament," first-year Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "We lost 7-2 to Jones, but we had a couple of matches we could have competed in a little better. That shows we're not that far behind. We want to get to the finals and make it a fight, for sure."

Gulf Coast got a bye into the semifinals Friday in Ellisville by finishing as MACCC runners-up. The Bulldogs will play fourth-seeded East Central. They beat the Warriors twice during the regular season.

No. 12 Jones won the state championship to earn the top seed. The top three teams advance to play in the NJCAA Tournament, which means that a win on either Friday or Saturday will clinch a trip to Mesa, Ariz.

"Winning will take care of itself if we do the little things right," Blackburn said. "I'm trying to hit it hard that we need to take it one match at a time. The nationals thig will take care of itself if we take care of business."

Gulf Coast has had to slide players up their lineup twice since the fall, but that's revealed the depth of the team. 

"Kasey Kent has stepped up from No. 3 to No. 2 without much of a warning, and she and Krissy (Georgieva) have stepped up at No. 1 doubles and won a good match against Jones the other day. It proves they can beat anybody in the conference and hang with people at national if we get there. I'm really impressed with her."

Kent (Fr., Ridgeland/Ridgeland) is 10-5 this season and 1-1 since moving up to No. 2 singles. Georgieva (So., Epsom and Ewell High School/Sutton, England) is 10-3 at No. 1 singles and 13-1 at No. 1 doubles. Georgieva and Kent are 4-0 since teaming together in doubles.

Kaylen Bond (So., Stone/Perkinston) has been strong all year, posting a 12-3 record in singles. She's 2-1 in three No. 2 singles matches.

Tia Topps (So., Grenada/Grenada) has won 14 of 15 singles matches, including all three since being elevated to No. 5, and Ashley Chelette (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) is 2-1 at No. 6 singles.

"Ashley stepped up and won a match at No. 6 without having played much early in the season," Blackburn said. "As a whole, I'm impressed with them the last few weeks. They've had a good season overall."

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Tennis Championship

Ellisville, Miss.

Thursday, April 15

Quarterfinals

No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln 5, No. 5 Meridian 4

No. 6 East Central 5, No. 3 Hinds 4

Friday, April 16

Semifinals

No. 1 Jones vs. No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln, 10 a.m.

No. 2 Gulf Coast vs. No. 6 East Central, 10 a.m.

Saturday, April 17

Finals

Friday winners play at 10 a.m.

Third-place match

Friday losers play at 10 a.m.

 

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