No. 12 Bulldogs open R23 Tourney on Thursday

PERKINSTON — The postseason begins Thursday for the No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast women’s tennis team when the NJCAA Region 23 Women’s Tennis Tournament starts in Ellisville.

The second-seeded Bulldogs (11-4) won four straight to end the regular season.

“We finished the regular season pretty strong, and we’ve been practicing well,” Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn. “We’ve practiced a lot of doubles because we know how important it is in a tournament to be up after doubles. We’re moving well, and I think they’re pretty fired up and excited to play. That will help us a lot.”

Seven of the eight teams in the tournament are in the top 25 of the ITA rankings, including host Jones, which is 10^th. Gulf Coast gets the only unranked team in the draw to open, playing seventh-seeded Hinds (7-10) in a match scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The Bulldogs beat Hinds 8-1 at Perk on March 7.

If the Bulldogs advance, they will face the winner of No. 14 Meridian vs. No. 21 Northwest Mississippi. No. 15 Itawamba, No. 16 Copiah-Lincoln and No. 25 East Central are also in the field.

“Our first-round match against Hinds is not an easy one,” Blackburn said. “We had really good matches against them in the regular season. It’s going to be a good first-round match, but if we keep going, there are no easy matches.”

Gulf Coast would play in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday, and the championship is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday.

NJCAA Region 23 Women’s Tennis Tournament

Ellisville

Quarterfinals

Thursday, April 11

No. 1 Jones vs. No. 8 East Central, 8:30 a.m.

No. 4 Copiah-Lincoln vs. No. 5 Itawamba, 10:30 am

No. 3 Meridian vs. No. 6 Northwest Mississippi, 1 p.m.

No. 2 Gulf Coast vs. No. 7 Hinds, 3:30 p.m.

Semifinals

Friday, April 12

Jones/East Central winner vs. Co-Lin/Itawamba winner, 10 a.m.

Gulf Coast/Hinds winner vs. Meridian/Northwest winner, 2 p.m.

Championship

Saturday, April 13

Championship, 10 am

Third-Place

Saturday, April 13

Third-Place match, 2 p.m.

For more information on MGCCC’s 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.