SENATOBIA - The Northwest Mississippi Community College men's and women's tennis teams will look to repeat and improve upon the success of the 2025 season that saw both teams participate in the NJCAA Division II Tennis Championships.
The women's team is returning including Laura Cámara Blanco, Meg Daves, Claudia Lopez Chaparro, and Lucy Grace Oliver.
These Rangers were part of a team that garnered an overall 10-6 record and a 6-3 record in MACCC play. NWCC's conference record last season was particularly impressive due to the fact that seven of the nine conference opponents were nationally ranked. Northwest's biggest win came in an extremely tight 5-4 match against #16 Itawamba.
Northwest's season ended with their second straight trip to the NJCAA Division II Tennis Championships where they placed 13th out of 28 teams. Each Ranger was a part of either a singles or a doubles victory. The team went 5-4 in doubles throughout the tournament and the Rangers also went 5-7 in singles.
The men's team will also see four players returning in Holden Cooke, Brady Holliman, Miguel Lazaga Robayna, and Luca Morris.
These Rangers were key pieces to a team that finished the season with an 11-6 record overall and a 7-3 conference record. Like with the women's team the conference record was particularly impressive because six of the 10 conference opponents were nationally ranked. The men's biggest conference win came after an intense 5-4 battle with #18 Copiah-Lincoln.
The men ended their season at the NJCAA Division II Tennis Championships where they placed 16th out of 27 teams. This was their second trip to nationals in three years.
Each doubles team earned at least one win, and five of the six singles players earned a win. The biggest victory came when sophomore Joshua Tedford defeated Enrique Urquidi from Mesa Community College (AZ) by a score of 8-0 in the consolation draw singles semifinals.
At the end of the 2025 season both teams were ranked in the final ITA JUCO rankings. The women's team was #15 and the men's team was ranked #17. Their final rankings can largely be attributed to their success at the national tournament.
"The returning sophomores have tons of potential. This is a seasoned group that will be prepared for anything that is thrown at them," said Coach Mounce. "Our men's projected starting lineup consists of five sophomores, and our women's lineup has four sophomores that may be able to contribute at any time."
The women's team will see five freshmen aim to make their mark on the court: Skylar Ferrell, Brooke Kicker, Ava McCain, Ángela Ortiz-Sánchez, and Ryleigh Parker Weatherly. The freshmen have all been a part of successful high school teams, winning various county and district championships. They will look to bring this winning mentality to NWCC.
The men's team will see three freshmen try to contribute to the success of the team: Carlos Diaz, Gregory Nelson, and Layne Wolf.
"This group of freshmen is exciting because of the level of talent that they bring in! We have several state champions in this current freshman group," Head Coach Ryan Mounce said as he enters his first year in charge of the program. "They have to learn how to maximize their talents on the court. The sky is the limit for them."
Mounce came to NWCC after spending a year at Meridian Community College, where under his leadership, the women's team finished ranked nationally at #18, third in the conference, and participated in the national tournament. The men's team at MCC also finished ranked nationally at #22, sixth in the conference, and participated in the national tournament.
Before coaching the Eagles, Mounce served as an assistant coach at Lafayette High School in Oxford for four years. During his time at Lafayette, the Commodores won four straight MHSAA Class 5A state championships.
"The job at NWCC was attractive for several reasons. For one, the campus is top tier. We are blessed to have elite facilities on this campus and an administration that wants to continue improving all aspects of the campus," head coach Mounce said. "It is also a great recruiting area. North MS is a hotbed for tennis, and I am so excited to see how we can use these players to grow our program."
The Rangers have already gotten valuable time competing on the courts during the fall. The star of the fall season was sophomore women's team member Meg Daves. Daves won the B draw at the ITA JUCO Southern Regional Championships. This was the first time a Ranger has won the main draw since the program was reinstated in 2022.
"Our fall season showed lots of progress," Coach Mounce said. "We competed well at our ITA tournament. Meg Daves took home a win in the ITA Singles B-Draw. We are looking to build on that this spring!"
After a delay to the start of the season due to the ice storm, the season kicked off with a pair of exhibition matches against Mississippi University for Women and Blue Mountain Christian University. The women's team was able to get a comprehensive 7-0 victory over the Mississippi University for Women Owls.
The first official match of the season came on Saturday, February 14 when the teams traveled to Raymond to take on Oxford College of Emory University. The men were able to pick up a big 6-3 win. The women's team unfortunately dropped their match 7-2.
On Friday, February 20, the Rangers will then enter a stretch of six straight home matches starting with their MACCC opener against Jones. During this stretch of home matches, the team will take on two additional MACCC opponents: Holmes and Southwest. They will also take on non-conference opponents Wallace State, Millsaps,and Bevill State.
After this stretch of home matches, the team will travel to Meridian before they have another stretch of home matches. This stretch will only be three matches against Coastal Alabama-South, MACCC opponent East Central, and Weatherford.
The Rangers will close out their season with four straight road MACCC matchups. They will travel to Itawamba, Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Hinds before finishing their season at Copiah-Lincoln.
"The MACCC conference is in my opinion the strongest NJCAA division two conference. There are never any 'easy' matches and you have to be ready to play from the time the first serve is hit," Coach Mounce said.
To stay up to date on the NWCC tennis team, follow the Ranger social media accounts or go to nwccrangers.com.
