Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams Split Matches with Mississippi Gulf Coast

Meridian, MS—The Marion Military Institute Tigers and Lady Tigers faced off against the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs at a neutral venue, the Northeast Park Tennis Center, on Saturday afternoon.  The men's team survived a fiercely-contested match, 6-3, while the shorthanded women's team had to forfeit five matches en route to a 9-0 loss.

The men's team found itself down 3-1 after losing two of the three doubles matches 8-5 (No. 1 doubles) and 9-8 (4) (No. 3 doubles) and the No. 2 singles match but gallantly fought back to take the remaining five singles matches.

Adam Bahney, MMI's No. 1 singles player, outlasted Mississippi Gulf Coast's Skyler Flowers, 7-6 (5), 7-5, for MMI's sixth team point of the afternoon, and MMI's Shane McDonough wore down Mississippi Gulf Coast's Brett Bowen, 4-6, 3-1, ret. (inj.), to clinch the match for the Tigers.

Sandwiched in between those two matches were Tiger wins at No. 3 singles by Andrew Wright (6-0, 7-5), Xavier Bell at No. 4 singles (6-0, 6-1), and Ben Lee at No. 5 singles (6-3, 6-0).

"All in all, it was a great team effort by the boys this afternoon," said head coach Charles Wright.  "We fought back all afternoon, and by the end of the day, that hard work paid off."

The Tigers return home to face Gadsden State Community College in a 1:00 p.m. match on Sunday, February 28, and the Lady Tigers go on the road to take on conference foe Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City in a 3:30 p.m. match on Wednesday, March 2