No. 15 Bulldogs headed to R23 finals
WIGGINS — No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast has experienced some weird days in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament the past couple of years, so Friday was just another chapter in that book.
The Bulldogs endured one start time change, two changes of locations and two weather delays before winning their semifinal against No. 17 Itawamba 5-2 in Wiggins.
"You've got to expect anything when it comes to postseason, and we definitely needed to be ready for anything today," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "It didn't go how we expected it to, but everything turned out good in the end. We're happy to be moving on to the finals."
Gulf Coast (12-2) will play No. 13 Jones at 10 a.m. Saturday in Ellisville. The Bobcats (18-5) edged the Bulldogs 5-4 in an epic match at Perk earlier in the season. The two teams have clinched a spot in the NJCAA tournament next month in Florence, S.C.
The Bulldogs' match was originally scheduled for Ellisville at 2 p.m., then moved to Hattiesburg at 10:30 a.m., just in time for a rain shower. Once play began, there was another weather delay after all the singles courts had complete one set, and the teams moved to the Wynn Tennis Center in Wiggins to complete the road trek.
Gonzalo Cotter (So., Valencia, Spain/IVLA) and Ryland Buford (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) got the Bulldogs' first point at Tatum Park after a 45-minute rain delay, winning 8-1 at No. 2 doubles. Vicente Faria (So., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria de Fonseca Benevides) and Moritz Stroebel (Fr., Metzingen, Germany/Theodor-Heuss-Schule Reutlingen) got another point at No. 2 with an 8-3 victory.
Singles got started in Hattiesburg after ICC won No. 3 doubles in a tiebreaker, but Mother Nature intervened again. Rain and lightning settled in at about 1:45 p.m. About 30 minutes later, the decision was made to head south away from the line of storms inundating the Pine Belt.
Nick Dulaney (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) was one game away from clinching No. 6 singles before the location change, and he needed two games to close it out 6-4, 6-1.
"We started out really, really, really well, and then Itawamba certainly picked up their level and it put some pressure on us," Blackburn said. "But we started finding our good level again and finished off on a strong note."
Stroebel followed by closing out a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 3. Buford clinched things with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles.
Gulf Coast will be trying to earn its second Region 23 title in three years on Saturday, getting revenge for the loss in March. The teams played for about 5.5 hours, with a three-hour clinching match.
"We're gonna have to just raise the level a little bit more," Blackburn said. "I think we're getting better as the tournament progresses. That's what you want to do, play your best for last, and that's what we're gonna have to do tomorrow. We know we'll have to start out hot and finish hot, too."
Results
Team: Gulf Coast 5, Itawamba 2
Doubles (in order of finish)
No. 2: Gonzalo Cotter-Ryland Buford (GC) def. Jack Semper-Luca Hoffman, 8-1
No. 1: Vicente Faria-Moritz Stroebel (GC) def. Joan Mateu Ramis Pascual-Knox Waterer, 8-3
No. 3: Santiago Diaz-Ben Orr (ICC) def. Jordan Mitchell-Nick Dulaney, 9-7 (7)
Singles (in order of finish)
No. 5: Dulaney (GC) def. Hoffman, 6-4, 6-1
No. 3: Stroebel (GC) def. Semper, 6-3, 6-1
No. 2: Waterer (ICC) def. Faria, 7-6, 6-3
No. 4: Buford (GC) def. Diaz, 6-4, 6-4
NJCAA Region 23 Men's Tennis Championship
Ellisville
April 24-26
Quarterfinals
Thursday
No. 1 Jones 5, No. 8 Northeast Mississippi 0
No. 4 Northwest Mississippi 5, No. 5 Copiah-Lincoln 3
No. 2 Gulf Coast 5, No. 7 East Central 0
No. 3 Itawamba 5, No. 6 Meridian 1
Semifinals
Friday
Ellisville
Jones 5, Northwest 1
Hattiesburg-Wiggins
Gulf Coast 5, Itawamba 2
Saturday
Championship
Jones vs. Gulf Coast, 10 a.m.
Third-place match
Northwest vs. Itawamba, 2 p.m.
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
