Bulldogs finished 12th in Texas
Mississippi Gulf Coast finished 12th at the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship after the event wrapped up Wednesday in Tyler, Texas.
"There's a minute at the end of every tournament where you think you could've played better, but we won some matches that where we were not the favorites. Overall, I'm pleased with the effort with the intensity the girls brought, and I think 12th place is a good finish for us."
It matches their national ranking coming into the tournament and matches the best finish the Bulldogs have had at the national tournament. Hillsborough won by 13 points over defending champion Cowley.
On the final day, Karla Bethea (So., Edwards/Homeschool) picked up another half-point for Gulf Coast, defeating Coastal Alabama-South's Samanthan Parris 8-5 in the No. 6 singles consolation bracket semifinals.
Bethea and Lauren Sullivan (So., Laurel/Laurel Christian), who had earned a spot in the No. 6 singles consolation finals on Monday, both lost to sixth-seeded players in the finals.
"They played strong," Blackburn said. "They would've liked to have one more win, but they definitely had a tough opponent in the last matches. They had a successful tournament, and honestly, every girl did really well in one way or another."
The Bulldogs were MACCC and NJCAA Region 23 runners-up, finishing with a 12-2 record in dual matches. They were 8-1 in conference play.
"This was a really easy team to coach," Blackburn said. "It was not hard to motivate them. It was not hard to get them pumped up to work hard. This team wanted to work hard. They wanted to improve, and they wanted to win. They did a lot of all of that stuff throughout the whole year. They made the year fun."
2025 NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship
Tyler, Texas
May 3-7
Wednesday
Consolation Draw Semifinals
Singles
No. 6: Karla Bethea (GC) def. Samantha Parris (Coastal Alabama-South), 8-5
Consolation Draw Finals
Singles
No. 4: (6) Mazamesso Tchamoussa (Iowa Central) def. Lauren Sullivan (GC), 8-0
No. 6: (6) Alyssa Glasgow (Collin) def. Karla Bethea (GC), 8-1
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
