MCC men’s tennis team preps for State/Region

The Meridian Community College men’s tennis team will travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, this Thursday to compete in the MACJC State/NJCAA Region 23 Tournament on Thursday thru Saturday, April 24-26 in Hattiesburg.

The Eagles ended their regular season on April 12 in a match with Ft. Smith, Arkansas bringing their overall record to 14-6.

Five of the losses on the season were to top ten teams ranked by the ITA.

The top three teams from the tournament will qualify to compete in the NJCAA Men's National Tournament hosted by Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas.

MCC’s men have made six consecutive trips to the national tournament.

"It will be a dog fight. The men's tournament has several competitive teams. We played close matches with Itawamba, Hinds, and Gulf Coast this season,” said Coach McPhail.

“We have not played Jones or CoLin, so I am not sure what they have."

Sophomore Nic Zabrodiec who has posted a 30-6 career record at MCC will go in as the no. one seed as will sophomore Blake Sherman, of Laurel. Dawson Dyess, of Meridian, will be the one seed at three as will Justin Newman, sophomore from Ethel, MS. The no. four, Elliott Clark, of Meridian, and the no. six, Joe Otto, of Lindsay, TX will be one of the top seeds as well.

"There is a lot of tennis to play. We have to grow up mentally and play our best if we hope to qualify."

MCC’s men are currently ranked No. 12 in the latest NJCAA national poll. The Eagles will enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed in all positions.

Meridian won the State/Region title last year and has either been champions or co-champions four out of the last six seasons.

Winner of the tournament will advance to the NJCAA national championship at Plano, TX in May.

MCC’s women have already advanced to the women’s national championship tournament after their sweep of the State/Region tournament last weekend. The Lady Eagles will be in Tucson, AZ on May 3-9.