PLANO, TEX. – Day 3 at the NJCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships was a tough one for the Northwest Mississippi Community College squad.  Though five of the nine competitors made it through to the quarterfinal round of the main draw, none were able to advance to the semifinals scheduled for day 4. 

Despite the struggles, there were bright spots for the Rangers.  Two Ranger doubles duos fought close battles in hopes of advancing through the main draw and two more Rangers did advance through their respective consolation brackets. 

Freshman Carlos Diaz will play on day 4 in the flight 1 consolation semifinal, while the duo of Diaz and Luca Morris advanced to the flight 1 consolation semifinal as well.

In main draw singles, Holden Cooke saw his tournament run in flight 4 come to an end at the hands of #4 Ryland Buford, 6-0, 6-3.

Jordan Mitchell, in flight 5, fell in two sets to #4 Nick Dulaney in a hard-fought match, 6-2 and 6-4. 

In flight 6, Brady Holliman faced off against #1 Tom Kopf and dropped the match in two sets, 6-1 and 6-0.

The Rangers lost two heartbreakers in the doubles main draw, punctuated by tiebreaks in three of the four sets played.

Holden Cooke and Jordan Mitchell faced off against the #4 team of Felipe Morales and Reese Touchet in a back-and-forth match that saw the first set tied at 1-1, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6 before going to tiebreak.  The Ranger duo led the tiebreak at 2-0 before relinquishing the lead and eventually fell in the set 7-6 (8-6).

Cooke was frank about the first set.  "Going into that match, we knew they would be some tough opponents…We had good energy starting and came out swinging, then the momentum shifted a little bit.  We lost some energy, but we had multiple chances to win the first set and didn't pull it out."

The second set was equally dramatic, with the Rangers taking an early 4-1 lead before their opponents rallied to a 6-6 draw again.  Cooke and Mitchell were unable to get anything going in the second set tiebreak, however, and lost 7-6 (7-1).

Mitchell was equally honest when reflecting on the second set.  "In the second set, we were great-we regrouped.  Coach definitely gave us a good talk to help us regroup.  At some point our momentum dropped a lot, we started getting flat-footed and missing a lot of returns…we had chances to win a set, win the match, and we just didn't execute."

The day was equally tough for Holliman and Miguel Lazaga Robayna in their evening doubles match against #2 Julien Cordeau and Maximo Yanez of Coastal Alabama-South.  The pair fought to a 6-6 draw in set 1 before eventually losing a tiebreak, (7-4). 

The Rangers had difficulty getting anything going in the second set.  The duo from Coastal Alabama seemed to have everything working their way, leading to a 6-0 final.

Northwest saw mixed results in the consolation brackets, losing one singles contest but advancing in another.  The Rangers also placed a doubles team in the consolation semifinals. 

Lazaga Robayna dropped his match, 8-3, to Fabricio Barron of Illinois Valley in flight 3.

Carlos Diaz was able to advance in flight 1, however.  He defeated Marshawn Gallego of Lake County in a match where each opponent traded blows until Diaz was able to seize a lead at 6-5 that he would not relinquish. 
  
"In the start, I was struggling a lot with my serve.  I just started to slow down the pace of my serve a lot, and that helped me.  I started holding serve and started to break him.  That was literally the difference of the match," said Diaz.

Diaz also advanced in the flight 1 doubles with his partner Luca Morris.  The pair handily defeated the Mercer County duo of Jose Valencia and Joe Zemaitis, 8-0. 

"We did what we needed to do.  They played good, but our speed was higher than theirs.  We were crossing and being aggressive.  That was the difference in the match," Diaz stated.

The Rangers ended the day in 9^th place with 19 total points. Carlos Diaz and Luca Morris look to provide the Rangers with a last chance to climb the ladder on day 4. You can keep up with tournament progress here or on Ranger social media accounts.

Main Draw Singles (May 13)
4. #4 Ryland Buford (MGCCC) def. #5 Holden Cooke (NWCC) 6-0, 6-3
5. #4 Nick Dulaney (MGCCC) def. #5 Jordan Mitchell (NWCC) 6-2, 6-4
6. #1 Tom Kopf (Wallace State, Ala.) def. #8 Brady Holliman (NWCC) 6-1, 6-0

Consolation Singles (May 13)
1. Carlos Diaz (NWCC) def. Marshawn Gallego (Lake County, Ill.) 8-5
3. Fabricio Barron (Illinois Valley) def. Miguel Lazaga Robayna (NWCC) 8-3

Main Draw Doubles (May 13)
2. #4 Felipe Morales/Reese Touchet (Jones) def. #5 Holden Cooke/Jordan Mitchell (NWCC) 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1)
3. #2 Julien Cordeau/Maximo Yanez (Coastal Alabama-South) def. #7 Brady Holliman/Miguel Lazaga Robayna (NWCC) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0

Consolation Doubles (May 13)
1. Carlos Diaz/Luca Morris (NWCC) def. Jose Valencia/Joe Zemaitis (Mercer County, N. J.) 8-0