No. 16 MGCCC wins 8 of 9 matches at nationals

No. 16 Mississippi Gulf Coast had a great day in the consolation draw of the NJCAA Division II Men's Tennis Tournament, winning eight of nine matches Wednesday in Plano, Texas.

Sam Blackburn and Brennan O'Keefe advanced to the backdraw singles finals by winning two matches on the third day of the event. O'Keefe and Noah Tippen are in the No. 2 doubles finals.

"It was an incredible day for Gulf Coast tennis," Bulldogs coach Gary Bourgeois said. "We won eight matches in a row, and we're in three finals and two semis."

In No. 2 singles, Blackburn defeated Spartanburg's Zachary McCullough, 8-1 and Paradise Valley's Nick Marroquin 8-6. He'll play Laredo's Matias Vargas in the finals.

O'Keefe moved to the finals of No. 6 singles with an 8-1 win over Lewis & Clark's Vince Gass and an 8-1 victory over Meridian's Walt Harrington.

In No. 2 doubles, O'Keefe and TIppen defeat Jones County's John Leggett and Taylor Tamberg, 8-1. Earlier in the day, they'd defeated Heston's Caleb Schrock-Hurst and Andry Stutzman, 8-1.

In the No. 1 doubles quarterfinals,  Blackburn and Bryan Allen defeated DuPage's Josh Abarca and Charlie Mack, 9-8 (2).

In No. 3 doubles quarterfinals, Brett Bowen and Chris Diep defeated Meridian's John Taylor Champion and Noah James, 8-6

In No. 1 singles consolation bracket, Bryan Allen lost to Seward's Carlos Anez, 8-1.