MCC Tennis Competes on National Stage

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College tennis team was honored this week to send several players to participate in the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships in Sumter, SC at the Palmetto Tennis Center.

Meridian's Jason Pimenta played the number three seed, Hironori Koyanagi (Ventura California), in one of the opening matches of the tournament on Thursday. Koyanagi came out swinging in the first set and, the match looked like like an uphill battle; however, Pimenta fought hard, made some adjustments in his game and won the second set 6-3.  

With the third set tied at 3-3, Pimenta ran into a little difficulty with his hand and was unable to play his game. Pimenta lost the third set 6-3 and will play Tyler Junior College's Ryan Brough on Friday  at 10:30.  Brough moved into the loser's side of the compass draw with a loss to the number two seed from Seminole State, Guy Iradukunda, who won the JUCO division of this tournament a year ago.  

In doubles, Meridian's Pimenta/Sam Butler, who were a late feed-in to the tournament, lost to the number one- seeded team  Guy Iradukunda/Ishmael Mzai from Seminole State 6-0, 6-2.  In the next round of the compass draw, the pair from Meridian lost to Harry Foster/Andrew Wright from Marion Military Institute 6-3, 4-6, 10-7.  The doubles pair will play Adam Bahney/Max Holloway on Friday at 3:00 p.m. in the last doubles' match.  Pimenta will play another match on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m.  

MCC Golf Ranked Number One

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team has enjoyed a great deal of success during its fall season and the squad can add one more honor to that distinguished resume’ for 2015. The Eagles learned on Thursday afternoon that it has been voted as the number one team in the nation according to the latest golf poll released by Golfstat.com among all Division II junior colleges.

MCC received the top spot in the Golfstat.com poll and was followed by South Mountain Community College in the second position among all Division II teams in the nation. Mississippi Gulf Coast was ranked third in the poll to join MCC as the only two schools in the state of Mississippi to be ranked in the top five. Meridian also had a pair of players receive individual honors among all players in junior college gold according to the website.

Former Lamar star Lance Strickland was ranked as the number two player in the nation among all divisions of junior college and the top ranked player among all Division II schools. Strickland has had a superb start to his freshman campaign at Meridian Community College by receiving medalist honors in two events this fall and earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team in a separate event. Strickland captured his first tournament championship at the MACJC Event #2 which was hosted by Northeast Mississippi Community College and took home top honors at the Pinnacle Trust Invitational which was hosted by Belhaven University. Strickland most recently finished in second place after another strong showing at the MACJC Event #3 which was hosted by Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Sophomore Grant Renegar also received individual honors from Golfstat.com by being ranked 29^th among all junior college players and 8^th overall among players in the Division II ranks. Renegar has had a strong start to his 2015 season for the Eagles by placing on the All-Tournament Team twice in two separate events for MCC.

MCC has captured three straight tournament victories during its 2015 fall season and will return to action on October 25-27 at the Arkansas State University Beach Bash at the Peninsula Golf Course in Gulf Shores, AL. The tournament at the end of the month for MCC will also mark its final event of the 2015 fall season. MCC is under the direction of head coach Ronnie Key.

MCC Soccer Set For Final Regular Season Home Matches

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College soccer program is getting set to play its final regular season home matches of the 2015 season on Friday afternoon against Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The day will begin with a men’s match between the two schools at 2 p.m. and will follow with a very important women’s contest at 4 p.m. The second match of the day will ultimately decide who will qualify for the MACJC playoffs and who will see their season come to a sudden end. The Lady Eagles are currently 7-6-1 overall on the season and will qualify for the postseason with a victory over the Lady Bulldogs on Friday at C.D. Smith Field.

The two teams previously met back on September 15 and MCC took a 3-1 road victory over Mississippi Gulf Coast. The two teams are tied for the third position inside the MACJC South Division standings and the winner will punch their ticket to the postseason which will begin October 27. Mississippi Gulf Coast will enter the match with a 6-9 overall record and are fresh off a 1-0 upset win over 17^th ranked Jones County Junior College earlier this week. The Lady Bulldogs have won two straight matches heading into its showdown with MCC on Friday and are also looking to spoil the party on Sophomore Day at C.D. Smith Field.

MCC is entering its match with Mississippi Gulf Coast on Friday after snapping a three-game losing streak with a 2-0 road victory back on Tuesday to Southwest Mississippi Community College. The Lady Eagles will look to continue its winning ways behind two dynamic freshman forwards that have made a huge difference this season. Freshman Effie Morrison will look to add to her already impressive stats in her first year in an MCC uniform after scoring 15 goals to lead the team. Freshman Kee Cole, a former Northeast Lauderdale star, has also been a great addition to the squad this season by rankling second on the team in goals with five.

MCC will conclude the 2015 regular season with a pair of road dates next week at Co-Lin (October 20) and Itawamba (October 23).   

MCC Golf Extends Tournament Winning Streak

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team extended its tournament winning streak on Sunday by capturing another conference tournament title. The Eagles won the MACJC Event #3 which was hosted by Copiah-Lincoln Community College and won the tournament title by ten strokes. After a strong first round score of 3-under 285, the Eagles followed with a 1-over 289 for the second round to win the tournament. Freshman Lance Strickland, a former Lamar star, led the way with a second place finish by posting scores of 67, 73 to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

Grant Renegar and Camden Backel also earned spots on the All-Tournament team by finishing in the top five by shooting 72, 71 and 73, 72 respectively. The Eagles also had two more players place in the top ten. Clayton Gray shot 73, 73 to place 6th and Colby Evans shot 75, 73 to place 10th. Playing as individuals, Malachi Spiers shot 77, 79 and Heath Newsom shot 78, 85.

In four tournaments this fall MCC has won three and placed 2nd by three strokes in the other tournament in competing in during the 2015 fall season. MCC will complete their fall schedule on October 25-27 at the Arkansas State University Beach Bash at the Peninsula Golf Course in Gulf Shores, AL.