MCC soccer star named MACJC Player of the Week

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College Lady Eagles are navigating through a very difficult 2016 soccer schedule in the rugged MACJC South Division, but one player has been awarded for her superb play. Sophomore striker Kedrianna Cole was named this week’s MACJC women’s offensive player of the week as voted on by members of the conference. Cole helped guide the Lady Eagles to a non-conference victory over Itawamba Community College last week at C.D. Smith Field by a final count of 5-1. Cole scored a pair of goals in the four-goal victory over the Lady Indians which was good enough for her to earn the offensive honor from the MACJC.

Cole is a native of Meridian, MS and attended high school at Northeast Lauderdale where she was a star on the Lady Trojan soccer team. Cole and the Lady Eagles will return to action on Wednesday with a non-conference road game at East Central Community College in Decatur at 5 p.m. The next scheduled home contest at C.D. Smith Field for the Lady Eagles will be Friday at 1 p.m. against non-conference foe Northwest Mississippi Community College. The MCC men will also be in the action this week with a road game at ECCC on Wednesday night at  7 p.m. and will return to C.D. Smith Field against Northwest on Friday at 3 p.m.

MCC Tennis earns a pair of tourney championships

From School Reports

Meridian Community College finished day four of the Oracle/ITA Southern JUCO Regional Tennis Championships with two champions on the men’s side. Jason Pimenta, a returning sophomore, won the Men’s Single’s Title with a win over Juan Sebastian Osorio from Copiah Lincoln Community College 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Pimenta, the number-two seed, had a bye on Wednesday during the round of 64.  

In the round of 32, which began Thursday at 8:00 a.m., Pimenta defeated Roberto Valadez from Itawamba Community College 0, 3. In the round of 16, which was played at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Pimenta took a 6-0, 6-1 win over Isaiah Polk from Marion Military Institute. In the quarterfinals played on Friday, Pimenta defeated John Teague Murphy from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 6-0, 6-3. In the semifinals, which were also played on Friday, Pimenta continued to dominate with a from 6-0, 6-1 win over Daniel Yepez from Hinds Community College 6-0, 6-1.

Pimenta is the 2015 USTA/ITA Southern JUCO Regional Champion and currently holds a #19 ranking in the ITA National Rankings. Meridian’s Breno Goncalves made it to the quarterfinals.  

He, too, had a bye for the first round. He then played and defeated Ezra Blissard from ICC 6-1, 6-0. In the round of 16, Goncalves defeated MMI’s Andrew Carey 6-2, 6-1. In a long match with the regional finalist, Juan Sebastian Osorio, Goncalves lost a long and tough three setter 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. Osorio advanced to the finals with a win over his teammate, Juan Pablo Pinilla 6-1, 6-0.  

Osorio took wins earlier in the tournament over MGCCC’s Noah Tippen and Meridian’s Will Swindoll. In other action, Meridian’s John Taylor Champion and Callan Shinall lost in the consolation quarterfinals. Meridian claimed its second championship of the tournament with a win at number one doubles.  

MCC’s Jason Pimenta/Breno Goncalves, who played doubles together as freshmen, defeated MMI’s Andrew Carey/Daniel Boussom in another long third setter by a score of 2-6, 7-6 (5), 10-4. The route to the finals was not an easy one. After a rain delay on Thursday, Goncalves/Pimenta hit the courts for their third doubles match of the tournament with a matchup with CoLin’s Osorio/Juan Pinilla. 

The MCC dynamic duo pulled out a close match 8-6. Earlier in the day, the duo defeated Jaboer/Lanelarra from East Central CC 8-2. Corey/Boussom of MMI reached the finals with a 8-4 win over John Teague Murphy/Noah Rowell from MGCCC. Boussom/Carey defeated Brendon Jobe/Chris Shands 8-1 in the quarterfinals to advance. In consolation action, ECCC’s Tom Langelaar defeated Hinds’ Chris Crapps 8-6. In the doubles consolation, Cory Alderman/Tripp Case from CoLin defeated ICC’s Edson Marchant/Michael Crotts 8-6 to win the consolation bracket.  

Marion Military Institute also had double champions on the women’s side. The women’s championship match pitted Mariana Alvarez of Hinds against MMI’s Paola Bou. Alvarez, currently ranked #15 in the ITA National Rankings, lost 6-4, 6-3. Bou, who comes to Alabama from Puerto Rico, defeated teammate Makenzie Ralston in the semifinals 0, 0. Alvarez advanced to the finals with a 7-6 (4),  3-6, 10-7 win over MMI’s Alana Larcombe. Meridian’s Hayden Hill had a great tournament. She lost in the quarterfinals to Makenzie Ralston from MMI 2-6, 6-3, 10-3. Meridian’s Rachel Sollie won the consolation singles with an 8-4 win over teammate Jordyn Hull.    

In women’s doubles, Bou/Alana Larcombe breezed to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Paulina Estrada/Katie Burrall of MGCCC. Bou/Larcombe defeated the No. 1 seed from Hinds, Mariana Alvarez/Stefy Varon, 8-3 to advance to the finals. Burrall/Estrada advanced to the finals with a 9-7 win over Gyselle Daza/Laura Vargas from Copiah Lincoln. Hull/Taylor Miller of MCC won the consolation doubles with an 8-3 score over Kacie Calhoune/Jasmine Sartin of MGCCC.  

The winners of this tournament qualified to advance to the Oracle Cup (formerly known as the National Small College Championships) which will be held in Surprise, Ariz., at the Surprise Tennis Center and Racket Club October 13-16. The overall winners of the Oracle Cup receive an invite to the DI National Indoor

MCC Soccer Sweeps Past ICC

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College soccer squads returned to action Tuesday night with a non-conference doubleheader against Itawamaba Community College at C.D. Smith Field. The two teams found a ton of offense  earn a doubleheader sweep of ICC by final scores of 5-1 (women) and 4-0 (men). 

The MCC women improved to 3-4 overall for the season and also snapped a three-game losing streak with the win over the Lady Indians, while the MCC men moved to 6-2 overall. The two teams will return to action on Friday with a non-conference road doubleheader at Holmes Community College. The women will play at 1 p.m. and the men will follow at 3 p.m. 

The MCC women built an early 3-0 lead in the first half on Tuesday night and never looked back in taking the 5-1 victory over ICC. Kee Cole got the Lady Eagles on the board first with a goal in the 9th minute of the match and Lacy Billings would add a pair of goals later in the half to give MCC a 3-1 lead at the end of the half. 

Cole added her second goal of the match in the 55th minute and Jessica Clark would conclude the scoring for the Lady Eagles with a goal in the 78th minute to give the home team a four-goal victory. 

The MCC men finished off the sweep of ICC behind a superb performance from Donja Smith. The match was scoreless after one half of play and MCC grabbed its first goal of the night in the 52nd minute from Elijah Wheat to make the score 1-0. Smith would score his first goal in the 55th minute and his second goal in the 83rd minute, while Pedro Dutra also picked up a goal in the match to help pace the shutout win for the MCC men. 

MCC Tennis to host Oracle/ITA Southern JUCO Championships

From School Reports

Meridian Community College is set to host the Oracle/ITA Southern JUCO Regional Championships at Northeast Tennis Center in Meridian, MS beginning Wednesday, September 21 with the men's Round of 64 single's action beginning at 4:00 p.m. The women will begin play at 5:30 in the round of 64. The tournament is set to pit some of the top players from the US, Columbia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and across the globe.

The men's bracket has forty-four players from seven different junior colleges entered, while the women will have thirty-eight singles players from six different colleges. On the men's side players from Copiah Lincoln CC, East Central CC, Hinds CC, Itawamba CC, Marion Military Institute, Meridian CC, and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC bring some stiff competition to vie for an opportunity to qualify for the Oracle/ITA Cup (formerly known as the National Small College Championships), which will be played in Surprise, AZ, October 13-16, 2016, at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Center.

Meridian and Gulf Coast bring the largest squads with ten singles players each. Jason Pimenta, who won the singles title last year will have to work very hard to repeat. Jason comes off a stellar freshman season going undefeated in Region XXIII and finishing #19 in the ITA rankings in May. Marion Military's Daniel Boussom is the number one seed after taking a win off Pimenta last week. All of the teams have top players with a good UTR ranking, so it will be very competitive.

The women's side appears to be one of the strongest draws yet with all of the same teams with the exclusion of Itawamba hoping to qualify a singles and doubles team for the Oracle/ITA Cup. Mariana Alvarez, who is from Columbia and plays one singles for Hinds Community College is the one seed. She finished last season ranked 15th in the National ITA Rankings. She will have tough competition from MMI's Paola Bou and Gulf Coast's Paulina Estrada who was last year's winner of this tournament. Play begins Thursday at 8:00 a.m. with men's singles and will continue into Thursday night as two rounds of singles and two rounds of doubles will be played. The players will return to the courts on Friday at 9:00 a.m. with singles play followed by doubles in the afternoon.

The finals will be Saturday morning. Doubles play is an eight-game pro set until the finals, while singles play is two out of three sets with a match tiebreak in the third until the finals.

MCC Golf set for another Championship run

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College golf team is hoping the 2016-2017 season will be another banner year for the historic program. The Eagles have built a solid tradition over the past 20 seasons of championship golf at MCC and are hoping that a solid nucleus of returning sophomores will be just the right mix for a banner season. MCC finished last season with an eighth place finish at the NJCAA National Championship Tournament and the team is hoping to make that giant step toward winning the title this season. MCC will enter the 2016 fall season ranked sixth according to the first NJCAA Division II golf poll and the Eagles will be competing in four conference events this fall.

MCC will return one of its biggest contributors from last season in former Lamar School standout Lance Strickland to the squad for the 2016-2017 season. Strickland had one of the more successful seasons as a freshman in MCC golf history and hopes to build off that success in his sophomore campaign. Strickland was named a PING All-American after helping his squad to a top ten finish at the National Tournament and was also selected to the All-Freshman team by the NJCAA. Strickland won two tournaments individually last season for the Eagles and placed second on four different occasions. Strickland was named to nine All-Tournament teams out of 11 tournaments that he competed in as a freshman for the Eagles. The other big highlight during his freshman season was a school-record low round of 64 which he shot during his amazing first season as a member of the MCC golf team.

The MCC golf team will welcome back three returning sophomores from last season and one transfer to the 2016-2017 team. Malachi Spears (Carriere, MS), Payne Hasty (Demopolis, AL), and Rhett Walters (Louin, MS) will look to help bring some more experience to the team this season, while Porsche Kitipongpatana (Bangkok, Thailand) will join the team this season after transferring from Owens Community College in Perrysburg, OH. Kitipongpatana helped Owens finish fifth last season at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament

The Eagles will look to lean on plenty of new faces this season four new freshman members will be a part of the team in 2016-2017. The newest additions to the MCC golf team this season include: Jacob Berry (Braxton, MS), Isaiah Jackson (Golden, MS), Terry Flowers (Meridian, MS), and Brady Stevens (Brandon, MS).

The MCC golf team also excelled in the classroom last season by earning the NJCAA Division II Academic National Championship which marked the second straight season that the program received that particular honor. MCC opened the 2016 fall season with a third place finish at the MACJC Event #1 at Wolf Hollow Club in Wesson, MS over the weekend. MCC finished with a final team score of 589 (13-over par) which was ten strokes behind Copiah-Lincoln Community College who finished second overall. Mississippi Gulf Coast won the overall tournament title with a 569 (7-under par) to grab the first conference victory of the fall season in the MACJC.

Freshman Isaiah Jackson was the top performer in the first tournament for the Eagles by placing fourth with a score of 143 (1-under par), while sophomore Lance Strickland finished in a fifth place tie with a two-day total of 144 which was at even-par. Freshman Jacob Berry finished tied for 10^th with a score of 147 (3-over par) and Brady Stevens played as an individual with a final score of 148 (4-over par) which was good enough for a tie in 13^th position.

MCC will return to action September 25-26 by participating in the MACJC Event #2 at North Creek Golf Course in Southaven, MS which will be hosted by Northwest Mississippi Community College.

MCC Soccer Splits Conference Set With PRCC

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College soccer program returned to action on Tuesday night at C.D. Smith Field with a conference doubleheader against Pearl River Community College. The MCC women dropped a hard fought 3-1 decision at the hands of Pearl River, while the MCC men secured a huge 4-3 conference victory over the Wildcats.

The Lady Eagles dropped to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in MACJC South Division play, while the Eagles improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in conference action. MCC will return to play on Friday with a road conference doubleheader at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The MCC women will take to the field at 5 p.m. and the men's game will follow at 7 p.m.

The MCC women trailed 2-0 at the end of the first half on Tuesday night and couldn't find a way to claw back and fell to the Lady Wildcats by a final of 3-1.

The lone goal in the match for MCC came from freshman striker Alandria Smith in the 76th minute that cut the PRCC lead to 2-1 at that point in the match. The Lady Wildcats put the game away in the 82nd minute with a goal to secure the 3-1 road win over MCC.

The MCC men salvaged the split in the final game of the evening in dramatic fashion with a 4-3 victory over PRCC. The two teams played a tight match throughout much of the first half, but freshman Donja Smith changed that with a goal in the 31st minute to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

MCC would extend its lead just a couple of moments later in the 33rd minute behind a goal from Thallison Alex to give the home team a 2-0 lead. The Eagles carried a 2-1 lead into the second half and Kale Voge would give MCC a little breathing room in the 59th minute with a goal to give his squad a two-goal edge.

PRCC cut the score to 3-2 in the 68th minute, but MCC would respond with a goal from Pedro Dutra behind an assist from Jeremy Smith to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead in the 69th minute. PRCC would grab a goal in the 80th minute, but the Eagles were able to hang on in the final minutes of play to take the 4-3 victory over the Wildcats.