No. 12 Bulldogs win opener against No. 17 ICC

PERKINSTON — No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast launched its 2024 men's tennis season with vim, vigor and a victory. The Bulldogs beat No. 17 Itawamba 6-3 at the MGCCC Tennis Complex.

"I was really pumped up by their enthusiasm and effort and energy from the beginning," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "They looked like the hungrier team, and it showed from the very beginning to the last match. Our guys came ready to fight today. We knew Itawamba was not going to be anything to take lightly. They can beat anybody they play, and they're playing good tennis. Luckily, our guys really showed up ready to work."

It was the first match for both teams and an MACCC contest to boot. The Bulldogs took two of the three doubles points to get off to a strong start.

Blackburn highlighted Vicente Faria (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundária de Fonseca Benevides), who excelled in his first collegiate match.

"Vicente won at doubles with Gonzalo and played great at No. 2 singles," Blackburn said. "He clinched the fifth point, which is not easy to do. He did it very comfortably, and I'm very proud and excited for him and his performance today."

Duarte Mestre (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundária Sebastiao e Silva) and Triston Hill won their doubles match, as well as their individual singles courts.

Gulf Coast will travel to play No. 23 East Central on Friday. First serves against the Warriors will be at 2 p.m. 

Results

Team: Gulf Coast Men 6, Itawamba 3

Doubles

No. 1: Vicente Faria-Gonzalo Cotter (GC) def. Tasso Moreira-Joan Mateo Ramis Pascual, 8-4

No. 2: Duarte Mestre-Triston Hill (GC) def. Knox Weterer-Jack Semper, 8-3

No. 3: Cade Teeple-Ben Orr (ICC) def. Hiram Havard-Jeremiah Layton, 8-5

Singles

No. 1: Moreiro (ICC) def. Cotter, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2

No. 2: Faria (GC) def. Ramis Pascual, 6-3, 6-2

No. 3: Mestre (GC) def. Semper, 6-4, 6-0

No. 4: Hill (GC) def. Teeple, 6-3, 6-2

No. 5: Weterer (ICC) def. Havard, 6-2, 7-6

No. 6: Layton (GC) def. Orr, 6-2, 5-7, 10-6

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