No. 15 Bulldogs head to evamped national tournament
PERKINSTON — There will be some important new things for the No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast women's tennis team, which is on the road Thursday to Sumter, S.C., for the national tournament.
That's a new location for the event, but the biggest change happened with a reclassification of the tennis ranks. The Bulldogs will be playing in the first NJCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship since 2004. It starts Saturday at the Palmetto Tennis Center.
"It means that the field is a little different," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "We're not playing against those Division I one teams, which are very tough competitors. That means there's a little more room to make deep runs in any draw that we're in, and I believe that every girl we have can compete and make deep runs. You can make a lot of noise for the whole team and put us high in the standings high. Anything can really happen in the national tournament, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these girls made really deep runs and did well."
There are 14 teams playing in the Division I tournament, which will be taking place there at the same time. The new Division II includes teams dropping down as well as the Division III teams. There were 15 automatic bids given, but there are expected to be players from at least 24 teams there.
Gulf Coast, which finished 12th at last year's Division I championship, punched its ticket by finishing third at the Region 23 Tournament.
Co-captain Meredith Matthews (So., Wiggins/Stone) was at the national tournament in Texas last year, so she's been sharing what it's like to be on the big stage.
"It's fun, and it's a good environment," she said. "They should just bring their best mindsets and attitudes, try their hardest, and leave it all out there in the court. They need to be immensely prepared for this hot weather and playing multiple matches a day. We want to just go out there and have fun."
The tournament concludes May 6. There are separate brackets for the six singles and three doubles competitions, with players earning team points for each matches. Players who lose their opening matches drop into the consolation draw, where victories are worth a half-point.
It's also a prime opportunity to get in front of the four-year coaches who will be on hand to recruit. Co-captain Pia Pugliese (Fr., San Juan, Argentina/Colegio Central Universitario Mariano Moreno) grabbed some attention during the team's trip to Texas by beating highly-ranked opponents there.
"We need to realize that we've worked hard for the whole year, from the preseason to the fall," she said. "We have to enjoy that and appreciate we've done our best and are still trying to do our best every day to be ready for nationals. I'm excited to be going to nationals. It's huge, and I'm so happy."
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