TYLER, Texas – It was a historic performance for Jones College in the NJCAA Division I Women's Tournament this week.
 
The Bobcats finished seventh with 24 points, matching their best performance in school history from last year.
 
In No. 1 doubles, Molly Bennett and Helen Hernandez became the first duo in MACCC history to reach the championship finals.
 
As the No. 3 seeds, Bennett and Hernandez beat Itawamba's Rayssa Domingues and Lucia Rubio 6-1, 6-4 in the round of 16 and Weatherford College's (Texas) Hoziane Kitambala and Claire Mahere in the quarterfinals, 6-0, 6-2. 
 
On Monday, they faced No. 2 seeds Amelia Devlin and Candy Wei of Tyler Junior College in the semifinals. They lost the first set 0-6 and were tied 5-5 in the second set when the rains came and they were unable to continue play at the JoAnn Medlock Murphy Tennis Center in Tyler.
 
On Tuesday, they traveled to the SMU Indoor Facility in Dallas to finish the match. They won the second set, 7-6 and then clinched the match with a 6-4 win in the third set.
 
In the championship finals on Wednesday they lost to Hillsborough Community College's (Florida) and top-seeded Catherine Goldman and Sydney Stark, 6-7, 0-6.
 
Head coach Brooks Buffington's Bobcats actually led the tournament with 16 points after Saturday's opening day.
 
Hillsborough won the championship for the second time in three years with 52 points. Cowley College (Kansas) was second with 39 points and host Tyler was third with 35 points. 
 
Jones led all MACCC schools. Mississippi Gulf Coast was 12th with 16 points, Hinds and Northwest tied Sumter (S.C.) for 13th place with 15 points. Meridian was 17th with 11 points and Itawamba was 24th with six points.
 
In No. 2 doubles, Theresa Emelio and Maria Martinez won its opening match over Iowa Central's Rosaline Akombo and Mazamesso Tchamoussa, 6-2, 6-4. They then lost a close one in the round of 16 to Collin College's (Texas) Nikoletta Pytel and Marie-Alix Urcun 6-4, 5-7, 4-6.
 
In No. 3 doubles, Ansley Tomkins and Josie Tullos blanked Bevill State's (Alabama) Zoie Mcguirk and Lila Oliver in the first round, 6-0, 6-0 and lost to Eastern Florida's Sara Valentina Ladino and Laura Yans in the round of 16, 3-6, 4-6.
 
Hernandez, Emilio and Tomkins each won their first two matches in singles.
 
In No. 1 singles, Hernandez beat Southwestern Illinois' Kasey Blagg, 6-1, 6-1 in the opening round and Domingues in the round of 16, 6-1, 6-3. She lost a tough one to Wei in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.
 
In No. 4 singles, Emelio defeated Moraine Valley's (Illinois) Maya Morris in the first round, 6-2, 6-0 and downed No. 8 seed Eastern Florida's Thais Mitlmeier in the round of 16, 6-4, 6-4. She lost to top seed Noah Rojas of Hillsborough in the quarterfinals, 1-6, 2-6.
 
In No. 6 singles, Tomkins beat Elgin Community College's (Illinois) Julia Burley 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and rallied past No. 6 seed Collin College's (Texas) Alyssa Glasgow in the round of 16, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5. She lost to No. 3 seed Sherin Scheerle of Tyler in the quarterfinals, 2-6, 1-6.
 
In No. 2 singles, Bennett blanked Moraine Valley's Johann Laran in the opening round, 6-0, 6-0 and lost to No. 5 seed Elena Martinez Prado of Eastern Florida in the round of 16, 2-6, 1-6.
 
In No. 3 singles, Martinez defeated Mercer County's (New Jersey) Diana Kalajdzic in the first round, 6-4, 6-1 and lost to top seed Aisulu Zholbolat of Hillsborough in the round of 16, 0-6, 1-6.  
 
In No. 5 singles, Annabelle Simmons beat Southwestern Illinois' Maggie Lang in the opening round, 6-1, 6-2 and lost to No. 7 seed Olivia Goldsack of St. Petersburg Community College (Florida) in the round of 16, 1-6, 6-4, 0-6.