ELLISVILLE - The fourth seeded Northwest Mississippi Community College men's tennis team (8-7) earn a dominant 5-2 win over fifth seeded Southwest Mississippi Community College (10-9) in the quarterfinals of the Region 23 Tournament in Ellisville at Bobcat Tennis Courts, setting up a match with the top seed Jones College Bobcats (15-1) on Thursday morning at 10 a.m.  

"I feel like the guys played well and executed when we needed to," Head Coach Ryan Mounce said. "We knew we had to play well to defeat a talented Southwest team." 

The Rangers got out to an early lead on the doubles courts, winning the #1 and #2 courts by a score of 8-1 and outlasting the Bears on the #3 court by a score of 8-5.  

Taking a 3-0 lead into the singles courts, the Rangers only needed to win two matches to secure the win.  

Although Northwest dropped two singles matches, they had no trouble picking up the necessary two courts to clinch the victory. Jordan Mitchell cruised to victory and only dropped one game during his match.  

With a dominant singles win of his own, Holden Cooke clinched the match for NWCC. Cooke had a comfortable lead the majority of the match and only dropped four games across two sets. 

"Holden is just a game. Whenever it gets tight, Holden is the type of kid to raise his level," Mounce said. "At a moment early in the second set it got tight, but he settled down and finished the match for us." 

Northwest will face the first seed in Jones College (15-1) in the semifinals tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Ellisville at the Bobcat Tennis Courts. No matter the result tomorrow, the Rangers will play Saturday as well. 

"Our message for tomorrow is going to be finish the job," Mounce said. "Today there were several spots where I thought our guys were passive and did not throw the knockout punch. We will have to be aggressive and have our best tennis to win tomorrow." 

If the team wins their semifinal matchup, they will play in the Region 23 Championship at 10 a.m. If the team loses their semifinal matchup, they will play in the Region 23 third place match at 2 p.m. Both matches will take place in Ellisville at the Bobcat Tennis Courts.  

To stay up to date on the NWCC men's tennis team, follow the Ranger social media accounts or go to nwccrangers.com.

Men's Doubles v. Southwest (April 16)
1. Carlos Diaz/Luca Morris (NWCC) def. Juan Luca Cividini/Manan Kumar (SWCC) 8-1
2. Jordan Mitchell/Holden Cooke (NWCC) def. Taylor Allen/Robert Beard (SWCC) 8-1
3. Brady Holliman/Miguel Lazaga Robayna (NWCC) def. Juan Manuel Riano Cifuentes/Thomas Simpson 8-5