Northwest tennis clinches Region 23 tournament berth

Photo: Northwest Mississippi Community College tennis team (Credit nwccrangers.com)

It didn’t take long for coach Will Irvin to make a splash in his first season leading the newly-revived Northwest Mississippi Community College tennis programs.

Northwest spent a majority of the regular season ranked in the ITA Men’s National Rankings, while both teams earned their fair share of MACCC wins. Now, both the Rangers and Lady Rangers have locked in bids into the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament.

Northwest (4-9, 4-6 MACCC) finished seventh in the women’s conference standings, earning a No. 7 seed. The Lady Rangers’ first match is scheduled for Thursday, April 13 against second-seeded Mississippi Gulf Coast. The Lady Bulldogs (12-4, 9-1 MACCC) are ranked 12th in the ITA National Rankings and previously defeated the Lady Rangers on April 4.

Thursday’s match is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Jones College in Ellisville, the site of both men’s and women’s tournaments. The winner of that match will face the winner of third-seed Meridian and No. 6 seed East Central on Friday, April 14.

Meanwhile, the 22nd-ranked Northwest men (6-7, 6-4 MACCC) will begin its postseason journey a week later, as the NJCAA Region 23 Men’s Tournament will begin on April 20. The Rangers earned the No. 5 seed in the tourney and will face fourth-seeded Itawamba (7-6, 6-3 MACCC), which holds a No. 19 ranking in the most recent ITA polls.

Northwest and Itawamba previously met on March 24, with the Indians earning the victory. The two teams will face off at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, with the winner taking on the winner of top-seeded Jones College and eighth-seeded Copiah-Lincoln.