No. 15 Bulldogs are headed to NJCAA Tourney
No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast punched its ticket to the first NJCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship on Saturday by beating Northwest Mississippi 5-1 in Ellisville.
The Bulldogs won the third-place match at the Region 23 Tournament to automatically advance to Sumter, S.C., next month.
"We played mentally-tough, strategically-smart, and we played a little more relaxed, and a little more mission-minded," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "I know those girls wanted the automatic trip to the national tournament, and they played really well today."
Pia Pugliese (Fr., San Juan, Argentina/Colegio Central Universitario Mariano Moreno) and Paige Baronich (Fr., St. Martin/St. Martin) won 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, and Victoria Ros Fabuel (Fr., Valencia, Spain/Colegio Sagrado Corazon Hermanos Maristas) and Meredith Matthews (So., Wiggins/Stone) dropped only one game at No. 3.
Up 2-1 headed to singles, the Bulldogs made quick work in singles. Isona Arnaus (So., Barcelona, Spain/Centre Lopez Vicuna) beat her No. 1 singles opponent 6-2, 6-0. Pugliese won 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2, and Ros Fabuel won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3.
The Bulldogs improved to 11-7 on the season, and Northwest is 8-9.
Gulf Coast has played in Division I in the past, but the NJCAA created Division II this season. Some teams moved down to combine with the Division III teams to form the new classification. The tournament will be played May 2-6.
"Every sport and every division across the whole country would say that one of the biggest goals of the year is making it to the national tournament to compete for a national title," Blackburn said. "That's what we get to do now. We've earned the spot, and it's a big deal to the girls and to me, and I'm very happy for them."
Results
Team: Gulf Coast 5, Northwest Mississippi 1
Doubles
No. 1: Laura Camara Blanco-Claudia Lopez Chaparro (NW) def. Isona Arnaus-Katelyn Walker, 8-0
No. 2: Pia Pugliese-Paige Baronich (GC) def. Angela Ortiz-Sanchez-Maragaret Daves, 8-3
No. 3: Victoria Ros Fabuel-Meredith Matthews (GC) def. Brooke Kicker-Ava McCain, 8-1
Singles
No. 1: Arnaus (GC) def. Ortiz-Sanchez, 6-2, 6-0
No. 2: Pugliese (GC) def. Lopez Chaparro, 6-1, 6-2
No. 3: Ros Fabuel (GC) def. Camara Blanco, 6-2, 6-0
NJCAA Region 23 Women's Tennis Tournament
April 9-11
Ellisville
Quarterfinals
Thursday, April 9
No. 1 Jones 5, No. 8 Meridian 0
No. 4 Northwest Mississippi 5, No. 5 Hinds 2
No. 2 Copiah-Lincoln 5, No. 7 Southwest Mississippi, 0
No. 3 Gulf Coast 5, No. 6 East Central 1
Semifinals
Friday, April 10
Jones 5. Northwest 0
Copiah-Lincoln 5, Gulf Coast 3
Championship
Saturday, April 11
Championship: Jones 5, Copiah-Lincoln 0
Third Place: Gulf Coast 5, Northwest 1
For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.
