by MGCCC Sports Information

After the high of winning six matches on the first day of the NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship, No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast faced some disappointment against tougher opposition on Sunday.

 

The Bulldogs have two doubles tandems left in the consolation draw who will play Monday.

 

“Sports and tennis are crazy,” Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. “You can have one amazing day, and the next day can bite you. That kind of happened to us a little bit. I’m proud of them. They played some really tough matches. To have chances to make it through to the quarterfinals at nationals is really good.”

 

Gulf Coast is 14^th in the team standings with 12.5 points after Bayley Askin (So., St. Martin/St. Martin) and Abigail Garman (So., Diamondhead/Hancock) showed resiliency after losing their first match of the tournament in the No. 3 doubles championship draw. They lost to the St. Petersburg duo of Rocio Brisa and Ai Katsura, then had to turn around and play quickly in the consolation draw.

 

They blanked Coastal Alabama’s team 8-0 in the backdraw quarterfinals, and will join the No. 2 doubles squad of Kendall Burn (Fr., Wiggins/Stone) and Hayden Hensarling (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs), who got a bye in the quarters. They’ll play Moraine Valley, while Askin and Garman will play Sauk Valley.

 

All six singles players had won opening-round matches to continue into Sunday’s championship bracket. Tanyaradzwa Kaome (So., Harare, Zimbabwe/The Heritage School) nearly forced a third set against Eastern Arizona’s Laura Coulome, falling in a second-set tiebreaker.

 

At No. 3, Angela Moreno (Fr., Sevilla, Spain/IES V Centenario) lost to Meridian’s Isabella Quintero 6-2, 6-3. Bayley Askin (So., St. Martin/St. Martin) lost to No. 2-seeded Tshegofatso Tsiang from Barton in straight sets at No. 3.

 

Hayden Hensarling (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) lost at No. 4 singles to Wallace State’s Erianna Irvin, and Kendall Burn (Fr., Wiggins/Stone) lost at No. 5 to Seward County’s Camila Carrales.

 

“I’m proud of them for giving themselves the opportunity,” Blackburn said. “It shows you how tough the national tournament really is. You have all these good players, and you can’t really take anybody for granted.”

 

NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship

Joann Medlock Murphy Tennis Center

Tyler, Texas

May 6-10

Sunday Results

Championship Bracket Singles Round 2

No. 1: Laura Coulome (Eastern Arizona) def. Tanyaradzwa Kaome (Gulf Coast), 6-2, 7-6(1)

No. 2: No. 6 Isabella Quintero (Meridian) def. Angela Moreno (Gulf Coast), 6-2, 6-3

No. 3: No. 2. Tshegofatso Tsiang (Barton) def. Bayley Askin (Gulf Coast), 6-0, 6-0

No. 4: Erianna Irvin (Wallace State) def. Hayden Hensarling (Gulf Coast), 6-4, 6-0

No. 5: No. 4 Camila Carrales (Seward County) def. Kendall Burn (Gulf Coast), 6-2, 6-0

No. 6: No. 4 Ai Katsura (St. Petersburg) def. Abigail Garman (Gulf Coast), 6-4, 6-1

Championship Bracket Doubles Round 2

No. 3: Rocio Brisa-Ai Katsura (St. Petersburg) def. Bayley Askin-Abigail Garman (Gulf Coast), 6-1, 6-1

Consolation Bracket Doubles Quarterfinals

No. 1: Sofija Djunisijevic-Jelizaveta Govrova (Lewis & Clark) def. Tanyaradzwa Kaome-Angela Moreno (Gulf Coast), 8-6

No. 3: Bayley Askin-Abigail Garman (Gulf Coast) def. Emma Spears-Alyssa Steed (Coastal Alabama), 8-0

Monday Schedule

Consolation Bracket Doubles Round 2

No. 2: Kendall Burn-Hayden Hensarling (Gulf Coast) vs. Catherine Gerl-Aubree Schultz (Moraine Valley), 1:30 p.m.

No. 3: Bayley Askin-Abigail Garman (Gulf Coast) vs. McKenzie Hubbard-Roquelle Penaflor (Sauk Valley), 1:30 p.m.

 

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