ELLISVILLE – A magical season for the No. 12 Jones College men's tennis team continues.
 
The Bobcats defeated No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast 5-2 here Saturday afternoon at the Bobcat Tennis Complex to capture the Region 23 Tournament championship for the first time since 1985.
 
Jones (24-3) will now head to Tyler, Texas, May 16-20 for the NJCAA Division I Tournament. The region title comes on the heels of the Bobcats' first MACCC crown since 1985.
 
Wallace Brewer (Germantown) clinched the championship with a tiebreaker win in No. 2 singles over Clayborne Fudge, 6-1, 3-6, 10-5. Jones also got wins from Nacho Vanecek (Argentina) in No. 3 singles over Pedro Molero, 6-0, 6-4, and Jackson Peoples (Northwest Rankin) in No. 5 singles over Kyle Bond, 6-2, 6-2. Trey Hilton (Pearl) fell to Alexander King in No. 6 singles, 6-2, 3-6, 4-10. 
 
Hilton and Vanecek defeated Paul Gayk and Anderson Dulaney in No. 2 doubles, 8-6, and Peoples and Tanner Bevard (Sacred Heart) downed Bond and King in No. 3 doubles, 8-4. Molero and Fudge beat Tomi Nader (Argentina) and Brewer in No. 1 doubles, 8-3.
 
In addition, several awards were presented after play.
 
Jones head coach Brooks Buffington was named Region 23 Coach of the Year and MACCC Co-Coach of the Year, along with MGCCC's Sam Blackburn.
 
Peoples and Tomi Nader were named All-MACCC and Nader was named MACCC Player of the Year.
 
Meridian defeated Copiah-Lincoln 5-1 in the consolation match. The top three teams advance to nationals.
 
REGION 23 AWARDS
 
Champion: Jones College
Runnerup: Mississippi Gulf Coast
Coach of the Year: Brooks Buffington (Jones)
No. 1 singles champion: Anton Sarunic (Meridian), 15-0
No. 1 Singles runnerup: Dominik Simunovic (East Central), 13-5
No. 1 Doubles champion: Julian Toloza/Julian Parada (Copiah-Lincoln), 16-2
No. 1 Doubles runnerup: Dominik Simunovic/Joe Fletcher (East Central), 11-6
 
MACCC Awards
Team champion: Jones (18-0)
Team runnerup: MGCCC (16-2)
Coach of the Year: Brooks Buffington (Jones), Sam Blackburn (Mississippi Gulf Coast)
 
All-MACCC
(Voted on by coaches and coaches could not vote for their own players. Player receiving most votes is MACCC Player of the Year.)
 
MACCC Player of the Year: Tomi Nader (Jones)
 
All-Conference
Tomi Nader, Jackson Peoples – Jones
Anderson Dulaney, Paul Gayk – Mississippi Gulf Coast
Russell Moorman – Itawamba
Julian Parada, Julian Toloza – Copiah-Lincoln
Anton Sarunic – Meridian