No. 12 Bulldogs finish as region runners-up

ELLISVILLE — No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast couldn't get over the hump Sunday against No. 11 Jones, falling 5-0 in the NJCAA Region 23 Championship match.

"It wasn't our day today," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "Give credit to Jones because they played great today. We had a lot of chances in doubles to take a little bit of a lead, but didn't quite take advantage. Jones rose up and played great tennis. Our girls fought hard, but it wasn't our day."

The Bulldogs lost all three doubles matches in tight matches and were in three singles matches when Jones clinched by winning the first two of six courts.

Gulf Coast is now 14-5, and by finishing as region runners-up clinched a spot in the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Tournament. It will be played May 6-10 in Tyler, Texas.

"There's a lot to be excited about," Blackburn said. "You want to win conference and region, but you also want to go have a chance to play in the national tournament. We have the chance to do that in a few weeks. We have to keep our heads up. There's a lot of good tennis coming our way. 

Results

Team: Jones 5, Gulf Coast 0

Doubles

No. 1: Daniela Tovar-Guadalupe Tocci (JC) def. Tanyaradzwa Kaome-Angela Moreno, 8-5

No. 2: Maggie Savell-Allie Johnson (JC) def. Hayden Hensarling-Kendall Burn, 8-6

No. 3: Michaela Anderson-Reagan Salter (JC) def. Bayley Askin-Abigail Garman, 8-5

Singles

No. 1: Tocci (JC) vs.. Kaome, 6-3, 3-3 (inc.)

No. 2: Tovar (JC) vs. Moreno, 6-4, 1-4 (inc.)

No. 3: Askin (GC) vs. Savell, 6-6 (inc.)

No. 4: Johnson (JC) def. Hensarling, 6-3, 6-0

No. 5: Annalyn Housley (JC) vs. Burn, 6-4, 2-0 (inc.)

No. 6: Anderson (JC) def. Niyah Strickland, 6-1, 6-4

NJCAA Region 23 Women's Tennis Championship

April 13-15

Ellisville

Friday

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Jones 5, No. 8 Southwest Mississippi 0

No. 3 Meridian 5, No. 6 East Central 1

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

No. 2 Gulf Coast 5, No. 7 Northwest Mississippi 0

Saturday

Semifinals

Gulf Coast 5, Meridian 1 (Hattiesburg)

Jones 5, Itawamba 0

Sunday

Championship: Jones 5, Gulf Coast 0

Third-place: Meridian vs. Itawamba, 2 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.