No. 14 Bulldogs in 8th after Day 1 at NJCAAs
No. 14 Mississippi Gulf Coast got three victories from Gonzalo Cotter and Vicente Faria on the opening day of the NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship on the way to six wins in Plano, Texas.
The Bulldogs picked up 12 points and are tied for eighth with host Collin.
"We won five of six singles matches, which is not easy to do," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "Our 1 doubles team looked great. Our 2 and 3 doubles played well and had a chance to win those matches. As a team, we played well and had a good first day."
Cotter, a freshman from Valencia, Spain, got the day off to a great start with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Marion Military's Flex Howard at No. 1 singles. Faria, a freshman from Lisbon, Portugal, followed with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Jacob Oie, also from Marion Military.
Cotter and Faria teamed up at No. 1 doubles for another two points in a straight-set win over Illinois Valley's Zvikomborero Bingura and Shingai Manyonga.
"Vicente started a little nervous, started tense, but finished so strong. Gonzalo started really strong and the other guy picked up his level, but he was just much better and played great. They played a great doubles match from start to finish. They played the one-seed from Cowley tomorrow, but the pressure is off them. We'll see what they can do."
Duarte Mestre (Fr., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundária Sebastiao e Silva) didn't drop a game in beating Mesa's Luke Vigil at No. 3 singles, and Triston Hill (So., Perkinston/Stone) got a 6-1, 6-1 win over another Mesa opponent, Brady Miller, at No. 4.
Hiram Havard (So., Vancleave/Vancleave) advanced to the second round by gutting out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 match over Paradise Valley's Liam Dunlap.
The Bulldogs will take the courts for Day 2 on Tuesday. The tournament is being played at Collin College and High Point Tennis Center.
NJCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship
Collin College
Plano, Texas
May 13-17
Monday Results
Championship Bracket Singles Round 1
No. 1: Gonzalo Cotter (Gulf Coast) def. Flex Howard (Marion Military), 6-0, 6-4
No. 2: Vicente Faria (Gulf Coast) def. Jacob Oie (Marion Military), 7-5, 6-0
No. 3: Duarte Mestre (Gulf Coast) def. Luke Vigil (Mesa), 6-0, 6-0
No. 4: Triston Hill (Gulf Coast) def. Brady Miller (Mesa), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5: Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast) vs. Liam Dunlop (Paradise Valley), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6: Sergi Forcadell (Coastal Alabama) def. Jeremiah Layton (Gulf Coast), 6-0, 6-3
Championship Bracket Doubles Round 1
No. 1: Gonzalo Cotter-Vicente Faria (Gulf Coast) def. Zvikomborero Bingura-Shingai Manyonga (Illinois Valley), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: Sachin Vanaraja-David Voinea (Prairie State) def. Triston Hill-Duarte Mestre (Gulf Coast), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
No. 3: Carlos Armando Alcala-Marco Dukic (Prairie State) def. John Thomas Frank-Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast), 6-3, 7-5
Tuesday Schedule
Championship Bracket Singles Round 2
No. 1: Gonzalo Cotter (Gulf Coast) vs. (6) Minjae Kim (Collin), 8 a.m.
No. 2: Vicente Faria (Gulf Coast) vs. Alexis Leguizamon (Weatherford), 9:15 a.m.
No. 3: Duarte Mestre (Gulf Coast) vs. (4) Cem Atlamis (Seward County), 9:15 a.m.
No. 4: Triston Hill (Gulf Coast) vs. (1) Tomas Quesada Perez (Eastern Florida State), 10:30 a.m.
No. 5: Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast) vs. (8) Jakub Sevcik (USC Sumter), 10:30 a.m.
Championship Bracket Doubles Round 2
No. 1: Gonzalo Cotter-Vicente Faria (Gulf Coast) vs. (1) Reiya Komagata-Brune Nhavene (Cowley), 1 p.m.
Consolation Bracket Singles Round 1
No. 6: Jeremiah Layton (Gulf Coast) vs. TBD
Consolation Bracket Doubles Round 1
No. 2: Triston Hill-Duarte Mestre (Gulf Coast) vs. TBD
No. 3: John Thomas Frank-Hiram Havard (Gulf Coast) vs. TBD
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