No. 15 MGCCC Women roll in Summit

No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast started the MACCC women's tennis season off on the right foot Friday, picking up a win in Summit by beating No. 25 Southwest Mississippi 8-1.

The Bulldogs swept six singles matches, dropping only one doubles court.

"It is a big difference for them going from playing against D-I teams, and it's tougher to now be favored to win," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "Once they got used to that, they were great."

Pia Pugliese (Fr., San Juan, Argentina/Colegio Central Universitario Mariano Moreno) and Paige Baronich (Fr., St. Martin/St. Martin) were sensational at No. 2 doubles, winning 8-2. Katelyn Walker (Fr., Sumrall/Sumrall) and Meredith Matthews (So., Wiggins/Stone) were even better at No. 3, storming to an 8-1 win.

Victoria Ros Fabuel (Fr., Valencia, Spain /Colegio Sagrado Corazon Hermanos Maristas) bounced back from the defeat at doubles to win her No. 2 singles match without dropping a game, and Isona Arnaus (So., Barcelona, Spain/Centre Lopez Vicuna) won in straight sets at No. 1.

Andee Rogers (So., Wiggins/Stone) won her sole match at No. 6, earning a 6-2, 6-3 point.

"They were battling a little bit more nerves," Blackburn said. "They were a little bit more timid on the doubles courts. They need a little more time to shake that off. Once they shook that off, we really rolled in singles with a very strong performance. All the girls 1 through 6 dominated."

Gulf Coast plays its first regular-season home match on Monday when Coastal Alabama-South visits for a non-conference event. First serves at the MGCCC Tennis Complex are scheduled for 2 p.m.

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 8, Southwest Mississippi 1

Doubles

No. 1: Martina Morales Troncoso-Paula Sanchez Tornos (SW) def. Isona Arnaus-Victoria Ros Fabuel, 9-7

No. 2: Pia Pugliese-Paige Baronich (GC) def. Madelyn Powell-Anna Comeaux, 8-2

No. 3: Katelyn Walker-Meredith Matthews (GC) def. Kayla Anderson-Anna Polk, 8-1

Singles

No. 1: Arnaus (GC) def. Troncoso, 6-3, 6-3

No. 2: Ros Fabuel (GC) def. Tornos, 6-0, 6-0

No. 3: Pugliese (GC) def. Powell, 6-2, 6-1

No. 4: Baronich (GC) def. Kai Jenkins, 6-1, 6-3

No. 5: Walker (GC) def. Comeaux, 6-1, 6-0

No. 6: Andee Rogers (GC) def. Polk, 6-2, 6-3

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