MGCCC women’s tennis finishes 20th at NJCAA Tournament

The MGCCC women’s tennis team (from left to right): Megan Terrell, Katie King, Brittany Freeman, Victoria Hagel, Ruta Grinvalde, Katherine Blair, and head coach Gary Bourgeois.

TUCSON, Az.---The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College women’s tennis team was admittedly outmanned and outmatched at the NJCAA National Tournament May 1-6, but the squad coached by Gary Bourgeois was seldom outplayed despite going up against some of the best teams in the Nation.

“We realized our goals this season,” Bourgeois said. “The team played extremely well against quality competition.”

As a team, Gulf Coast finished 20th out of the 31 teams competing at the annual event. Lady Bulldog freshman Ruta Grinvalde had one of the best showings ever at the NJCAA’s when she lost her first singles match but ended up making all the way to the championship round of the consolation bracket. Fellow freshman Katherine Blair made a run to the semi-finals for the consolation bracket while sophomore Victoria Hagel won her first singles match before falling to the 9th ranked player in the NJCAA.

Tyler, TX. won the NJCAA 2010 National Title while Meridian Community College finished 11th and Jones Junior College finished 18th.

It’s the third time since 2007 that the women’s team has made it to the NJCAA National Tournament.