March 28, 2007

Final Stats

RICHMOND, Va. -- Despite being without the services of two starters, the Navy tennis team posted a 5-2 victory over defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Richmond, Wednesday afternoon at the Westhampton Tennis Complex in Richmond.

The victory, the third in a row by the Mids, raises Navy's record on the year to 9-10, while the Spiders fell to 7-14 on the season with the loss.

Navy played the match without Jason Hill (So., Marietta, Ga.) and Stanley Kahl (Sr., Richland, Pa.) due to injuries. Hill, who has missed three matches in a row due to a strained hip, leads Navy with 14 wins on the season while Kahl, who injured an ankle prior to the match, ranks second on the squad with 12 wins.

"We knew we were without two players, so a number of guys moved up at least one spot in the lineup to take their places," said Navy head coach John Officer. "Despite that, we didn't miss a beat. It was a good, solid performance today. Overall, I am pretty pleased."

The Mids won the doubles point with victories at No. 1 doubles by the duo of Nate Nelms (So., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (So., Papillion, Neb.) and by the No. 3 team of Adrian Lai (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) and Jarrad Smoke (Fr., Belmar, N.J.).

Navy then proceeded to win four of the six singles matches, with all but one of those victories coming in straight sets.

Nelms started things off by recording a convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles over Bobby McNally to pick up his third-straight win at the flight. Ramsey Lemaich (Fr., Danville, Calif.) also tallied his third-straight win of the season with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph at No. 5 singles over Charlie Seltzer. Navy's third and final straight-set win was posted by Alex James (Jr., Visalia, Calif.), who recorded a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Michael Sommer at No. 4 singles.

Rounding out the Navy singles victories on the day was Lai, who posted a 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (8-6) win at the No. 3 flight over Chris Louis.

Wednesday's match against the Spiders began a stretch of three road matches over a span of five days for the Mids. Next up for Navy is a Friday afternoon match against George Washington at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex in McLean, Va.

Navy (9-10) def. Richmond (7-14), 5-2
Doubles (Navy wins the doubles point)
1 - Nelms/Waters(N) def. Berry/Louis, 8-3
2 - Banker/Sommer (R) def. James/Lemaich, 8-4
3 - Lai/Smoke (N) def. McNally/Minter, 8-5

Singles
1 - Nate Nelms (N) def. Bobby McNally, 6-1, 6-0
2 - Doug Banker (R) def. Johnny Waters, 6-3, 6-1
3 - Adrian Lai (N) def. Chris Louis, 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (8-6)
4 - Alex James (N) def. Michael Sommer, 6-3, 6-3
5 - Ramsey Lemaich (N) def. Charlie Seltzer, 6-3, 6-1
6 - Sami Belakhlef (R) def. Jarrad Smoke, 7-5, 6-0