Oct. 21, 2006

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Navy doubles team of Nate Nelms (St., Mary's, Ga.) and Jason Hill (So., Marietta, Ga.) used a strong performance to move into the third round of the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Men's Regional Championship Saturday in Philadelphia.

The unseeded Navy duo began their second round match against Princeton's Ted Mabry and Alex Vuckovic by winning the opening three games before posting an 8-4 victory.

"Nate and Jason played extremely well, especially for a team we just put together this week," said Navy head coach John Officer. "They started strong and carried that over through the remainder of the match."

The Navy team will next compete Sunday in the round of 16 against Cornell's Nic Brunner and Josh Raff, the number three seed at the tournament.

Nelms did not fare as well in his second round singles match Saturday, dropping a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision to Manhattan's Zoltan Bus. After winning the opening set, Nelms held a 2-0 lead in the second set before "the set got away from him," according to Officer.

Nelms then had six break point opportunities in the third set to climb back to within 5-4 and return to being on serve, but Bus held to close out the match.

"Nate played very well today against a very good opponent," said Officer. "It was one of the more entertaining matches of the day. Nate could have gone far in this tournament."