MGCCC tennis works hard at NJCAA Tournament

MGCCC tennis team award winners Grant Bell, Mary King, Suzy Bowman, and tennis coach Gary Bourgeois.

PLANO, TX---The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College men’s tennis team arrived in Plano full of optimism knowing the challenge of the NJCAA Tournament would be great.

The team’s first match of the tournament featured Alexander Puyol’s three-set loss to Tom Greer-Smith of Temple College 2-6, 6-1 6-2.

“It was a tough opening day, but we knew we would do well in the back draw as we had played well on opening day but were out played by seeded players,” said Gary Bourgeois, Gulf Coast tennis coach. “Our tournament really started on day two as Puyol and Nick Georgian made a run to the finals in the number one and number four single flights.”

Puyol defeated Alex Fioavante of Marion Military Institute 6-4, (retired), in the quarters then won a hard fought match against Joe Owen of Pima College

6-3, 4-6, 10-8 in a third set tiebreaker. In the finals Puyol lost to number three seed Zack Evenden of Cowley College 6-1, 6-1. In the number four flight

Nick Georgian got to the finals by beating Tanner Hatch in a close match 7-6, 3-6, 10-4 in the third set tiebreaker. Georgian then dispatched Patrick Ballard of Itawamba Community College 6-3, 6-1. In the finals, Georgian took on Justin Delgado from Temple College and took the match to a three set tiebreaker before retiring due to an injury.

“I was really proud of the way our team fought in every match, “ Bourgeois added. “We were never out-hustled, only out played. This is a very young team and going to Nationals was a great experience for them. We grew up a lot during some of our matches, especially the bottom part of the line up. This is a great springboard for our program.”

The team also recently held its awards program with the following winners:

MGCCC Tennis Team Awards

Men

Sportsmanship: Lachlan Puyol

Most Improved: Grant Bell

MVP: Nick Georgian

Women

Sportsmanship: McKinsey Boss, Kayleigh Grantham

Most Improved: Mary King

MVP: Suzy Bowman