No. 13 Men’s Tennis starts postseason Thursday
PERKINSTON — No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast is looking to get things cranked up in a hurry Thursday in the NJCAA Region 23 Men's Tennis Tournament in Ellisville.
The Bulldogs, the second seed, face No. 23 Itawamba, the seventh seed, in a quarterfinal scheduled for 1 p.m.
"The key is having a really good start," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "If you start hot and really get after it from the beginning, that hopefully take some belief out of them. Going into singles, we can step on the gas and get the job done."
The teams met back in February, with Gulf Coast winning 8-1. The Bulldogs are 10-6, and the Indians are 3-8.
The winner advances to the quarterfinals to play the winner of the match between Copiah-Lincoln and Meridian, which will be Thursday's final match. The semifinal will be played at 2 p.m.
"Against every team we play, no matter who it is, we need to just play our level and not be affected by the moment, not be affected by who the opponent could be," Blackburn said. "We need to just be worried about playing our best tennis, and if we're playing our best tennis as a team, I believe we can beat anybody we play."
Seven of the teams in the field appear in the ITA rankings. Jones is ranked 12th, Copiah-Lincoln 16th, Northwest Mississippi 17th, Meridian 19th and East Central 24th.
Live scoring Thursday will be available at https://ita.matchtennisapp.com/baseapp/ls/?v=team&id=489381.
Tournament Central: https://jcbobcats.com/sports/2023/4/10/2024-njcaa-region-23-mens-tennis-championships.aspx
NJCAA Region 23 Men's Tennis Tournament
April 16-18
Ellisville
Quarterfinals
Thursday, April 16
No. 1 Jones vs. No. 8 East Central, 8:30 a.m.
No. 4 Northwest Mississippi vs. No. 5 Southwest Mississippi, 10:30 a.m.
No. 2 Gulf Coast vs. No. 7 Itawamba, 1 p.m.
No. 3 Copiah-Lincoln vs. No. 6 Meridian, 3:30 p.m.
Semifinals
Friday, April 17
Jones/East Central winner vs. Northwest/Southwest winner, 10 a.m.
Gulf Coast/Itawamba winner vs. Copiah-Lincoln/Meridian winner, 2 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, April 18
Finals, 10 a.m.
Third-place, 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.
