Men’s Tennis aims high in 2026

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast had the highest finish ever by a MACCC men's tennis team at the NJCAA Tournament last year, and this season's group of Bulldogs is looking to improve on that.

The Bulldogs finished third in the MACCC and were Region 23 runners-up after a 12-3 season. There are only three sophomores on the 10-man team, so they'll be learning on the job. It starts Thursday with an exhibition against Loyola-New Orleans at Perk. First serves at the MGCCC Tennis Complex are set for 2 p.m.

"I'm excited to see these talented freshmen start playing matches and really get into the season," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "As the season progresses, we're going to really start accelerating and playing better and better with every match. Our international guys are all freshman, and we've got a lot of talented freshmen Mississippi players, so I'm expecting big things from the guys. If we continue to do the work that we've been doing and play matches with the intensity that we bring to practice, a lot of good things will happen with these guys."

The three sophomores are in-state players: Ryland Buford (So., Gulfport/Gulfport), Nick Dulaney (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) and Connor Hartfield (So., Oak Grove/Oak Grove).

The freshmen class includes Taylor Cook (Fr., Olive Branch/Lewisburg), Cree Cunningham (Fr., Wiggins/Stone), Warren Hudson (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) and Brennan McGlothin (Fr., French Camp/French Camp Academy).

"Ryland, Nick, and Connor are all leaders in different ways, and they all work really hard on and off the court," Blackburn said. "There's never a day I have to question their intensity or how much they care. They bring a lot to the table, and they're all playing really good tennis, as well. I'm expecting a lot of big things from the sophomores, and they're going to leave a big mark on Gulf Coast tennis when they leave."

The international players are Jan Bako (Fr., Ostrava, Czech Republic/Hladnov), Santiago Enriquez (Fr., Encarnacion, Paraguay/CEUCE) and Angel Hernandez (Fr., Puebla, Mexico/UPAEP). Blackburn said they are talented, but also selfless and hardworking.

"They're making each other better, and they make everybody else on the team better, too, with their high level, with the experience and the intelligence they bring to the game," Blackburn said. "They want to be out here, and they love being in practice. They're going to continue to improve as the year goes on."

Gulf Coast should be in position to earn one of the region's three automatic berths to the new NJCAA Division II Tournament. The Bulldogs were ninth last year at the Division I Tournament, with a new division carved out to make it more competitive for those schools. MACCC haven't had a realistic opportunity at a national championship against all-international teams, and they'll see if there's a path to a title.

"This being the first year for D-II for us is special," Blackburn said. "We've got a fun squad. These guys are going a lot of fun to see what they can do toward the end of the season, especially going to nationals. There's no telling what you could do. You see teams all the time get hot in the postseason and make deep runs and go do special things. So I could see us doing something like that, but we'll take it one match at a time and see what happens." 

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