No. 13 Gulf Coast sweeps through Day 1 of MACJC/Region 23

No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast didn't drop a set on the first day of the MACJC/Region 23 Tournament on Thursday in Meridian.

The Bulldogs are in first in the team standings after picking up all nine points, although it wasn't a cakewalk.

"A couple of those matches, the score wasn't indicative of how competitive they were," Gulf Coast coach Gary Bourgeois said. "Everybody here is out to beat us."

Bourgeois called Friday "separation day," with a full slate of semifinal matches in store. Team standings were not available Thursday.

MGCCC was particularly dominant in the lower part of the lineup. Reid Cudd (So, Wiggins/Stone), the defending state champ at No. 5 singles, dropped only two games in a victory of Holmes' Nikolas Bails. Austin Moore (So, Petal/Petal) lost just one game to East Central's Lunceford Keen.

John Murphy (So, Mobile, Ala./McGill-Toolen) and Noah Rowell (So, Wiggins/Stone) defeated Bails and Joshua Maughan 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles, and Chubb and Cudd won No. 3 doubles 6-1, 6-4 over Erich Fischer and Jedidiah Slover from Jones County.

Travis Bell (So, Jackson/Calloway) and Austin Vos (Fr, Perth, Australia/Applecross) also won two matches.

"There was a lot of energy," Bourgeois said. "Everybody was fired up. They wanted to beat Gulf Coast, and we took their best shots and landed on our feet."

MACJC/Region 23 Tournament Quarterfinals

Meridian

Doubles

No. 1: (2) Travis Bell-Austin Vos (GC) def. Joseph Jabour-Tom Langelaar (EC) 7-5, 6-2

No. 2: (2) John Murphy-Noah Rowell (GC) def. Nickolas Bails-Joshua Maughan (Holmes) 6-1, 6-0

No. 3: (1) Evan Chubb-Reid Cudd (GC) def. Erich Fischer-Jedidiah Slover (JC) 6-1, 6-4

Singles

No. 1: (4) Travis Bell (GC) def. Dallas Elmore (Holmes) 6-2, 6-3

No. 2: (3) Austin Vos (GC) def. Noel Monsalve (JC) 7-6, 7-5

No. 3: (1) John Murphy (GC) def. Tripp Case (CL) 6-1, 6-3

No. 4: (1) Evan Chubb (GC) def. Braden Ishee (CL) 6-4, 6-3

No. 5: (1) Reid Cudd (GC) def. Nikolas Bails (Holmes) 6-1, 6-1

No. 6: (2) Austin Moore (GC) def. Lunceford Keen (EC) 6-1, 6-0

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.