CLINTON, Miss. --- The Mississippi College men's and women's tennis teams will head to Montgomery, Ala. for the Gulf South Conference Tennis Championships, which open on Thursday (April 22) and will be held at the Lagoon Park & O'Connor Tennis Center.

The Lady Choctaws (8-6, 6-4 GSC) enter the tournament as the #3 seed and will face Lee University at 2:30 p.m. The two teams played back on April 15th with the Flames (9-5, 6-4 GSC) grabbing a 5-2 win in Clinton.

MC has been strong in doubles play this season, going 27-12 (.692), including a 19-10 (.655) record in GSC matches. The tandem of Ely Alas and Fernanda Cota have led the way with a 10-4 record at the #1 position.

Paulina Cota (8-6) and Alas (8-5) have spearheaded a singles attack at the #1 and #2 positions, while freshman Maria Rodriguez has been a force with an 8-1 record in her rookie campaign.

West Alabama (14-2, 10-0 GSC) comes into the tournament as the #1 seed, followed by West Florida (11-4, 9-1 GSC). MC finished the regular season tied with Auburn Montgomery, Valdosta State and Lee for the 3rd-best league mark. Christian Brothers and Montevallo rounded out this year's field.
   

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The Choctaws (3-12, 2-7 GSC) are the #8 seed in this year's tournament and will face #1 seed Valdosta State (12-1, 9-0 GSC) in the opening round at 10:00 a.m. The Blazers, ranked 4th in the country, defeated MC by a score of 7-0 on April 12th.

It has been an injury-riddled 2021 campaign for the Choctaws in an unforgiving Gulf South Conference with five teams ranked in the Top 25. Joe Jarvis and Brady McDaniel have led the doubles attack this season, going 5-5 with a 3-3 mark in league play.

Maksym Konovalov has been the top singles player for the Choctaws, going 8-7 overall, and posting a 5-4 record in conference play.

After the Blazers, West Florida (12-3, 8-1 GSC) comes into the tournament as the #2 seed, followed by Delta State (9-2, 7-2 GSC) and Auburn Montgomery (11-6, 6-3 GSC). West Alabama, Lee, Montevallo and MC round out the field in this year's tournament.
 

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Mississippi College is a private Christian university located in Clinton, Mississippi with an enrollment of over 5,000 students. MC recently finished their transition process back to NCAA Division II and the Gulf South Conference and began competing for conference and national championships in the 2016-17 academic year.

The athletic department sponsors 18 intercollegiate athletic programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Football, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field and Volleyball.

For more information on Mississippi College athletics, please contact David Nichols at 601-925-3234 or nichols@mc.edu.