ELLISVILLE – No.1 seed Jones College opened the NJCAA Men's Region 23 Championship Thursday morning with a 5-0 victory over No. 8 seed Northeast here at the Bobcat Tennis Complex.
 
The 13^th-ranked Bobcats (17-5) will meet No. 4 seed Northwest at 9 a.m. Friday in a semifinal match. The 18^th-ranked Rangers beat No. 5 seed and 19^th-ranked Copiah-Lincoln, 5-3.
 
In Thursday's other matches, No. 2 seed and 15^th-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast defeated No. 7 seed East Central, 5-0, and third-seed Itawamba downed No. 6 seed and 20^th-rated Meridian, 5-1, in a match that was moved to Tatum Park in Hattiesburg because of rain. MGCCC will face No. 17-rated Itawamba at noon Friday in the other semifinal match.
 
The championship is set for 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by the consolation match at 2 p.m.
 
The Bobcats got rolling with three wins in doubles.
 
Matias Ruiz (Argentina) and Tom Garrett (Australia) downed Kevin Kotze and Tomas Aramburu in No. 1 doubles, 8-4, and Diego Castellanos (Bolivia) and Alex Holder (Madison Central) blanked Gibson Foster and Turner Foster in No. 2 doubles, 8-0. Ridge Jones (Northeast Jones) and Reese Touchet (Madison Central) defeated Brayden Hanna and John Parker in No. 3 doubles, 8-2.
 
Ridge Jones whipped Turner Foster in No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-1, and Luke Westmoreland (Grenada) clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in No. 5 singles.
 
The top three teams in the tournament will advance to the NJCAA Division II Men's Championship May 12-16 in Florence, S.C.