Georgieva, Kent pick up 3 wins at nationals

No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast picked up three impressive wins on the first day of the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship in Mesa, Ariz.

Krissy Georgieva (So., Epsom and Ewell High School/Sutton, England) and Kasey Kent (Fr., Ridgeland/Ridgeland) won their singles matches, then paired for a memorable comeback in No. 1 doubles.

"Krissy and Kasey are really leading the way for us, getting wins in singles and doubles," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "It gives us six points right off the bat, and we'll go to the backdraw with everybody else tomorrow and pick up some more points. I think we'll come out strong in the backdraw. Krissy and Kasey have tough opponents in the next round, but they're playing great tennis and you never know what can happen."

Georgieva played Desiree Ahlberg from Bryant & Stratton and wasn't sharp coming out of the gate. She made some unforced errors as she got accustomed to playing probably her best opponent of the season, but picked up steam about 20 minutes into action.

"It was a little bit ugly in the beginning, but she really started to get dialed in," Blackburn said. "Her opponent was probably the best player she's played all season, and once she got dialed in and adjusted to her level of pace, she really started cleaning up."

Georgieva won 6-4, 6-1, pulling away in the second set. Kent's match was the reverse of her teammate's.

She came out firing on all cylinders and won the first set 6-1. Kent kept the pressure on and closed the match out 7-5.

"Kasey was the better player for sure," Blackburn said. "She was more talented and made more shots and fewer errors. Less errors was the key to that match. She kept the ball in play more and was just rock solid."

Georgieva and Kent got blanked in their first set of No. 1 doubles, but the score against Paradise Valley's Noelani Lui and Krystel Quintero was deceiving.

"They played a really good first set, but they couldn't finish points," Blackburn said. "They'd get themselves set up pretty well, but when they go their opportunity to end points, they didn't do it. In the second and third set, that definitely wasn't the case."

They started putting their chances away and didn't let the other team dictate play. Blackburn said they played their best match of their season together and won 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Kaylen Bond (So., Stone/Perkinston) and Anna Stringer (So., Stone/Wiggins) will play their first No. 2 doubles match Sunday, as will Tia Topps (So., Grenada/Grenada) and Ashley Chelette (Fr., Vancleave/Vancleave) at No. 3.

Those four players dropped their opening round singles matches. That drops them into the backdraw, where they can stack up points for the team.

"Overall, I'm very pleased with the first day," Blackburn said. "They played some good tennis, and even the ones that lost played well and competed really hard."

NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship

Mesa Tennis Center

Mesa, Arizona

May 1-5 (all times CT)

Saturday Results

Doubles

No. 1: Krissy Georgieva-Kasey Kent (GC) def. Noelani Lui-Krystel Quintero (Paradise Valley), 0-6, 6-4, 6-4

No. 2: Kaylen Bond-Anna Stringer (GC) bye

No. 3: Tia Topps-Ashley Chelette (GC) bye

Singles

No. 1: Krissy Georgieva (GC) def. Desiree Ahlberg (Bryant & Stratton), 6-4, 6-1

No. 2: Kasey Kent (GC) def. Krystel Quintero (Paradise Valley), 6-1, 7-5

No. 3: Brie Botsford (SC Florida) def. Kaylen Bond (GC), 6-1, 6-0

No. 4: Rebecca Van Der Lee (Iowa Central) def. Anna Stringer (GC), 6-0, 6-1

No. 5: Malena Hernandez (Barton) def. Tia Topps (GC), 6-2, 6-0

No. 6: Rachel Slade (Iowa Central) def. Ashley Chelette (GC), 6-2, 6-0

Sunday Schedule

Main Draw

Doubles

No. 1: Krissy Georgieva-Kasey Kent (GC) vs. (7) Lou De Freitas Bonet-Kia Carvalho-Landell (SC Florida), 5 p.m.

No. 2: Kaylen Bond-Anna Stringer (GC) vs. Sara Cline-Anna Moore (East Central), 4:30 pm

No. 3: Tia Topps-Ashley Chelette (GC) vs. Lorena Torrico-Saskia Vogelzang (Seward), 3 p.m.

Singles

No. 1: Krissy Georgieva (GC) vs. (6) Alexandra Abyasova (Barton), 2 p.m.

No. 2: Kent (GC) vs. (1) Lauren Anzalotta (Tyler), 12:30 p.m.

Backdraw

Singles

No. 3: Kaylen Bond (GC) vs. TBD, 7 p.m.

No. 4: Anna Stringer (GC) vs. Cameron Jackson (USC Sumter), 11 a.m.

No. 5: Tia Topps (GC) vs. TBD, 6:30 p.m.

No. 6: Ashley Chelette (GC) vs. TBD, 6 p.m.

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