Men’s Tennis starts season Wednesday
PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast is looking to turn the disappointment of last year's men's tennis season into fuel for the 2025 season. The Bulldogs were MACCC runners-up but stumbled to third place in the Region 23 Tournament.
Coach Sam Blackburn's squad launches the new season Wednesday with a trip to the University of New Orleans for an exhibition match. It starts at 2 p.m.
"The region tournament was just a brutal finish," he said. "And that honestly made come back to be a really good thing for this year. It's been really motivating. And the guys, they want to win now, but we also know that it's one match at a time. We've got a long way to go until we get there, but the team's working really hard, from day one and the sophomores have done a really good job leading the way."
There's a home exhibition match against Dillard University starting at 2 p.m. Friday. The first regular season match is Monday when Coastal Alabama-South visits the MGCCC Tennis Complex.
The four-man sophomore class includes Gonzalo Cotter (So., Valencia, Spain/IVLA), Vicente Faria (So., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria de Fonseca Benevides), Jeremiah Layton (So., Brookhaven/Brookhaven) and Smith Walker (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) has had to take a leadership role with the
"The whole team pushes each other, and they all help each other," Blackburn said. "I see the sophomores out there with the freshmen helping them with different things. The freshmen love that. They love to get better. They love reps."
Faria and Cotter won the ITA Southern Region doubles title in Ellisville in the fall, advancing to the ITA Cup. They beat teammates freshman Moritz Stroebel (Fr., Metzingen, Germany/Theodor-Heuss-Schule Reutlingen) and Ryland Buford (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) in the finals, demonstrating the depth of the squad.
Stroebel, Buford, Nick Dulaney (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach), Easton van Norden (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach), Jordan Mitchell (Fr., Natchez/Natchez) and Connor Hartfield (Fr., Hattiesburg/Oak Grove) are the talented newcomers to the team.
"The depth is going to really be important this year," Blackburn said. "It's going to show up on the court when we can have everybody on the team play well. We can put in whoever we need to and know we can win."
Gulf Coast finished 15th at the NJCAA Tournament in Plano, Texas, last year. Jones, Itawamba, Copiah-Lincoln, Meridian and Hinds also finished in the top 25.
"There are a lot of good teams, and we know that," Blackburn said. "Most matches are not going to come easy by any means. So, but we're excited for that, and the other team wants that. We've got a tough early schedule out of conference, including (NCAA) Division I teams. They're going to make us better and prepare us for that."
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