No. 12 Women’s Tennis wins big on Sophomore Day

PERKINSTON — No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast closed out its regular season Tuesday by celebrating Sophomore Day in a great way.

The Bulldogs beat East Central 8-1 at MGCCC Tennis Complex to finish second in the MACCC. They'll play in the NJCAA Region 23 Championship which starts April 10 in Ellisville.

"This group of ladies has been very special," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "They've been so much fun and a pleasure to coach the last couple of years. They're great tennis players and great young ladies, and to see them finish the regular season with a commanding win was great."

Gulf Coast (9-1, 8-1 MACCC) swept the doubles, dropping only six games on three courts. Isona Arnaus (Fr., Barcelona, Spain/Centre Lopez Vicuna) and Lauren Sullivan (So., Laurel/Laurel Christian) won 8-0 at No. 2.

Dallas Tanner (So., Hattiesburg/Oak Grove) won No. 5 singles 6-1, 6-1, and Arnaus won No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-2.

It was the final home match for Karla Bethea (So., Edwards/Homeschool), Valeria Callejo-Vivar (So., Madrid, Spain/I.E.S. Ortega y Gasset), Mikenzy Dubrow (So., Biloxi/Biloxi), Lauren Sullivan (So., Laurel/Laurel Christian), Dallas Tanner (So., Hattiesburg/Oak Grove) and Danique Vermue (So., 's-Heerenhoek, Netherlands/Scheldemon College).

"I've got a lot of belief that this group will continue playing well to finish the year strong," Blackburn said. "I'm very thankful and blessed daily to coach all these sophomores and the whole team."

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 8, East Central 1

Doubles

No. 1: Danique Vermue-Valeria Callejo-Vivar (GC) def. Ivanna De Gregorio-Nil Kalkavan, 8-3

No. 2: Isona Arnaus-Lauren Sullivan (GC) def. Isabella Estrada Avila-Jaci Willis, 8-0

No. 3: Dallas Tanner-Mikenzy Dubrow (GC) def. Addy Page-Noelle Howell, 8-3

Singles

No. 1: Vermue (GC) def. Kalkavan, 6-3, 6-1

No. 2: De Gregorio (EC) def. Callejo-Vivar, 6-1, 0-6, 10-2

No. 3: Arnaus (GC) def. Estrada Avila, 6-1, 6-2

No. 4: Sullivan (GC) def. Howell, 6-3, 6-2

No. 5: Tanner (GC) def. Page, 6-1, 6-1

No. 6: Bethea (GC) def. Johnson, 6-2, 6-3

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