PLANO, TEX. – Northwest Mississippi Community College Head Coach Ryan Mounce was optimistic when asked in February about the 2026 edition of his men's tennis team.  He had reason to be with four of his projected starters returning from a squad that made the Region 23 tournament and earned a bid to the NJCAA tournament in 2025.  That squad finished 16^th on the national stage.

Mounce added several top-ranked opponents to the 2026 schedule for the Rangers in hopes of preparing them to exceed those results.  On Friday, the results were in and the Rangers had indeed eclipsed the accomplishments of the previous year. 

In April, the Rangers bettered the previous year's results in the Region 23 tournament by defeating Copiah-Lincoln in the third-place match in Ellisville.  On Friday, after completion of the NJCAA Men's Tennis Championships at the Marty Berryman Tennis Center, Northwest ended the year in the top ten nationally for the first time since the revival of the program in 2023.

Northwest wrapped up play in the national tournament on Thursday afternoon.  Though no Rangers remained in the main draw, Carlos Diaz and Luca Morris competed in the consolation brackets.

Diaz faced off against Ilian Delalande of Bevill State in flight 1 singles.  He was able to take an early lead in the matchup, before falling behind 3-2. Delalande began to find his serve midway through the match and was able to hold on, defeating Diaz in the semifinal matchup, 8-2.

Diaz and Luca Morris faced a familiar foe in the Southwest Mississippi duo of Juan Luca Cividini and Manan Kumar in flight 1 doubles.  The teams battled back-and-forth under the Texas heat with the score tied at one game apiece, and again at two, before the Southwest squad took a seemingly insurmountable lead at 5-2. 

The Ranger pair rallied back, however, and tied the match at 5-all.  "We just locked in," said Diaz. "It was just like two or three mistakes that took us to that place…the points were there every single game. We just fixed those mistakes and started to lock in a little more."

The exertion to catch up proved to be too much for Diaz and Morris, however.  They were unable to seize the lead, dropping the semifinal match 8-6. 

Diaz was honest about the tough loss.  "We were getting there again, but I knew this was going to be a tough match.  They were playing really, really good.  I knew they were going to give everything, and they did.  It was a great match, honestly. Unfortunately, we lost, but that's just part of tennis."

After the matches, Diaz reflected on his time at Northwest.  "It's really cool. This is the first time in my life being part of a team.  You can feel the support of the team, and you don't play for yourself. You play for the team.  It feels really nice to be representing something bigger than yourself."

Consolation Singles (May 14)
1. Ilian Delalande (Bevill State, Ala.) def. Carlos Diaz (NWCC) 8-2

Consolation Doubles (May 14)
1. Juan Luca Cividini/Manan Kumar (Southwest Mississippi) def. Carlos Diaz/Luca Morris (NWCC) 8-6

Day 5 Update (May 15)
Northwest finished day 4 in 9^th place overall (19 points) with only finals matches left to play.  On Friday morning, Marko Brkovic of Prairie State College (Ill.) defeated Edward Dulin of Paradise Valley (Ariz.) in the flight 3 consolation finals to gain the point needed to pass the Rangers.  Northwest ends the year at the #10 spot in the 2026 NJCAA Men's Championship.

You can view final tournament results here.