Bulldogs jump into 3rd place with 3 wins

Mississippi Gulf Coast won three doubles semifinals Thursday and moved into sole possession of third place heading into the final day of the NJCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship.

"It's an incredible feat for the guys to have all three doubles in the finals, a really remarkable day," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "We've been talking about our depth this year, and our depth on the doubles court really showed up this week. That's what will hopefully place us in the top three tomorrow. I'm very proud of the guys."

The Bulldogs have 36 points, two behind Coastal Alabama-South and one ahead of MACCC rival Jones. If they win two matches, they'll clinch third by themselves and would also have a chance to finish second if the Coyotes falter. Wallace State has clinched the championship.

Angel Hernandez (Fr., Puebla, Mexico/UPAEP) and Ryland Buford (So., Gulfport/Gulfport), the fifth seeds in No. 1 doubles, upset top-seeded Tom Garrett and Juan Pereyra from Jones. It was a slugfest, with the Bulldog duo winning the third set 6-2.

"Angel and Ryland played an absolutely outstanding doubles match," Blackburn said. "They lost to those guys last time at the region tournament, and they played fantastic tennis today to beat the one-seed. I'm proud of the effort they made after losing two tough singles matches."

Jan Bako (Fr., Ostrava, Czech Republic/Hladnov) and Warren Hudson (Fr., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) defended their No. 1 seed by sweeping their Jones opponents. They topped fourth-seeded Felipe Morales and Reese Touchet 6-4, 6-4.

Hudson bounced back after losing his No. 6 singles semifinal in a third-set tiebreaker against Coastal Alabama.

"He played a really good match in singles," Blackburn said. "He gave himself a chance to win, and sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't. It was a great effort from him, and then to come back out and beat another good Jones team, that was a great effort from him."

Third-seeded Santiago Enriquez (Fr., Encarnacion, Paraguay/CEUCE) and Taylor Cook (Fr., Olive Branch/Lewisburg) pulled off another upset in No. 3 doubles, beating second-seeded Julien Cordeau and Maximo Yanex from Coastal Alabama. They won 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 to give Gulf Coast third place outright headed into the final day.

All three doubles finals are scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. at the Collin College Tennis Facility.

Tournament Central: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=21ecd17c-b217-42b1-b865-2d562cb882f5

NJCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship

May 11-15, 2026

Collin College Tennis Facility

Plano, Texas

All Times Central

Thursday, May 14

Results

Singles Semifinals

No. 1: (1) Juan Pereyra (Jones) def. (4) Angel Hernandez (GC), 7-6, 6-1

No. 4: (1) Alvaro Velasco (Coastal Alabama-South) def. (4) Ryland Buford (GC), 6-4, 6-1

No. 5: (1) Luka Uzelac (Wallace State) def. (4) Nick Dulaney (GC), 6-2, 7-5

No. 6: (2) Maximo Yanex (Coastal Alabama-South) def. (3) Warren Hudson (GC), 4-6, 6-1, 7-6

Doubles Semifinals

No. 1: (5) Angel Hernandez-Ryland Buford (GC) def. (1) Tom Garrett-Juan Pereyra (Jones), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2

No. 2: (1) Jan Bako-Warren Hudson (GC) def. (4) Felipe Morales-Reese Touchet (Jones), 6-4, 6-4

No. 3: (3) Santiago Enriquez-Taylor Cook (GC) def. (2) Julien Cordeau-Maximo Yanex (Coastal Alabama-South), 7-5, 4-6, 6-2

Friday, May 15

Schedule

Doubles Finals

No. 1: (5) Angel Hernandez-Ryland Buford (GC) vs. (3) Angel Gautier-Alexander Grube Andersen (Wallace State), 11:30 a.m.

No. 2: (1) Jan Bako-Warren Hudson (GC) vs. (3) Jean Badenhorst-Francois Van Wyk (Wallace State), 11:30 a.m.

No. 3: (3) Santiago Enriquez-Taylor Cook (GC) vs. (1) Tom Kopf-Matias Vargas (Wallace State), 11:30 a.m.

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.