No. 12 Bulldogs advance to finals with win over No. 14 Meridian
ELLISVILLE — No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast flipped the script in more than one way Friday, beating No. 14 Meridian 5-2 in the NJCAA Region 23 semifinals.
They started fast and swept three doubles points a day after getting off to a slow start in the quarterfinals.
"It was crazy," Bulldogs coach Sam Blackburn said. "I'm proud of them. They started incredibly. Going 3-0 in doubles is huge. They earned it. They played incredible doubles. We had a little slow start in singles, but found a way to get it done. Meridian stepped up and played good singles, but I'm proud of our team."
Gulf Coast (13-4) advances to the championship match against No. 10 Jones. The Bulldogs also clinched a berth in the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship, which will be played May 4-8 in Tyler, Texas.
The doubles sweep was also a reversal from the teams' regular-season meeting, when the Eagles won two of three matches. Mikenzy Dubrow (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi) and Lauren Sullivan dominated at No. 3, winning 8-1.
Angela Moreno (So., Sevilla, Spain/IES V Centenario) and Danique Vermue (Fr., 's-Heerenhoek, Netherlands/Scheldemond College) finished their 8-3 win on the No. 1 court seconds ahead of Valeria Callejo (Fr., Madrid, Spain/I.E.S. Ortega y Gasset) and Kendall Burn (So., Wiggins/Stone), who won 8-4 at No. 2.
Sullivan made quick work of her No. 5 singles opponent, winning 6-1, 6-1. Meridian was able to pick up wins on the first two singles courts, and looked to be swinging momentum before Callejo and Burn forced third sets in the singles matches.
Niyah Strickland (So., Pachuta/Quitman), who clinched the regular-season match against Meridian, did it again in Ellisville. She won 6-4, 6-2, sweeping the last five games of the match.
"That's a tough position to be in," Blackburn said. "She knows that's one of the courts we need to win, and that's not an easy position to be in no matter who you're playing or what you did last time. I'm proud of her for remaining calm and playing good tennis."
Gulf Coast will have to get refocused quickly to make the trip back up to face host Jones. The Bobcats beat the Bulldogs in the regular season, and Gulf Coast will need some of Friday's strong play to roll into tomorrow.
"We're gonna have to do what we did today in doubles, and then do it again in singles," Blackburn said. "We have to start hot and finish hot."
Results
Team: Gulf Coast 5, Meridian 2
Doubles
No. 3: Mikenzy Dubrow-Lauren Sullivan (GC) def. Amelia Anding-Lilly Hollingsworth, 8-1
No. 1: Angela Moreno-Danique Vermue (GC) def. Isabella Quintero-Randy Rakotoarilala, 8-3
No. 2: Valeria Callejo-Kendall Burn (GC) def. Cheludo Monnayoo-Cayden Alexander, 8-4
Singles
No. 5: Sullivan (GC) def. Davis, 6-1, 6-1
No. 1: Rakotoarilala (MER) def. Moreno, 6-0, 6-3
No. 2: Quintero (MER) def. Vermue, 6-3, 6-3
No. 6: Strickland (GC) def. Hollingsworth, 6-4, 6-2
NJCAA Region 23 Women's Tennis Tournament
Ellisville
Quarterfinals
Thursday, April 11
No. 1 Jones 5, No. 8 East Central 0
No. 5 Itawamba 5, No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln 3
No. 3 Meridian 5, No. 6 Northwest Mississippi 1
No. 2 Gulf Coast 5, No. 7 Hinds 1
Semifinals
Friday, April 12
Jones 5, Co-Lin 0
Gulf Coast 5, Meridian 2
Championship
Saturday, April 13
Jones vs. Gulf Coast, 10 am
Third Place
Saturday, April 13
Co-Lin vs. Meridian, 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.
