No. 14 Bulldogs claim 3 titles, finish 2nd
No. 14 Mississippi Gulf Coast players won three MACJC/Region 23 championships Friday in Tupelo, and the Bulldogs finished tied for second to clinch a berth in nationals.
"When we got up this morning, we had a lot of things in our control, but a lot were not," Gulf Coast coach Gary Bourgeois said. "We had a team meeting and decided the things we had under our control, we wanted to take care of business. We had five positions alive today, and we wound up winning three of them."
Evan Chubb (So., Biloxi/St. Patrick) won the No. 3 singles crown and teamed with Patrick Roth (Fr., Pascagoula/Resurrection) to win the No. 2 doubles title. Wesley Fontaine (Fr., Biloxi/Biloxi) won at No. 5 singles.
Gulf Coast finished with 23 points, tied with Jones. Hinds won the state/region title by three points.
Chubb defeated Jones' Erich Fischer in the semifinals, and then beat Hinds' Eric Holmes 6-2, 7-5 in the finals. Fontaine downed Itawamba's Hayden Embry in the semis, then won 6-2, 6-4 over Hinds' Christopher Adams.
The tournament jammed two days' worth of matches into one to try to beat the rain which was moving into the area Friday night. Chubb was battling stomach problems, and Roth was cramping before their doubles final against Jones' Fischer and Jacob Johnson.
"For those guys to step up and perform the way they did in doubles, it was outstanding," Bourgeois said. "That match tied us with jones. They both stepped up in front of a hostile crowd."
They won 6-4, 6-4 to get Gulf Coast into the tie with Jones. The finish earns the Bulldogs a trip to the NJCAA Division I Men's Championship in Tucson, Ariz., which will be played May 13-17.
"We're very happy to finish where we did," Bourgeois said. "We started the day five points behind Jones. We were very focused. Second place under these conditions was acceptable based on where we started today."
MACJC/Region 23 Men's Tennis Tournament
Friday's results
Semifinals
No. 3 singles: (1) Evan Chubb (GC) def. (4) Erich Fischer (JC), 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 singles: (1) Patrick Roth (GC) vs. (4) Bryce Livingston (HIN), 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 singles: (1) Wesley Fontaine (GC) vs. Hayden Embry (ICC), 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 singles: (1) Anthony Schloegel (GC) vs. James McWilliams (JC), 7-5, 6-2
Finals
No. 3 singles: (1) Evan Chubb (GC) vs. (2) Eric Holmes (HIN), 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 singles: (2) Ethan Clopton (MER) def. (1) Patrick Roth (GC), 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 singles: (1) Wesley Fontaine (GC) def. (2) Christopher Adams (HIN), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 singles: (2) Michael Phillips (MER) def. (1) Anthony Schloegel (GC), 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 doubles: (1) Evan Chubb-Patrick Roth (GC) vs. (2) Erich Fischer-Jacob Johnson (JC), 6-4, 6-4
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