April 15, 2007

Final Stats

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The Navy tennis team saw five of its six players record at least one victory during the four and one-half hour contest to help the Midshipmen post a 4-3 win over Army, Sunday afternoon at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center in West Point.

The victory was Navy's second-consecutive win over Army and the first triumph for the Mids over the Black Knights in West Point since 1999. Additionally, Navy ends the regular season with victories in its last seven matches -- with four of those wins coming by scores of 4-3 -- and makes the Mids the likely No. 1 seed for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament to be played in Annapolis (April 21-23).

"We're very excited about what we were able to accomplish," said Navy head coach John Officer. "It was a great day of tennis."

As with Navy's match Saturday at Lehigh, the doubles point came down to the contest at the No. 1 flight. The Army duo of John Houghton and Phil Muhawi served for the match at 7-6, but Navy's team of Nate Nelms (So., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (So., Papillion, Neb.) broke Army's serve to tie the match at 7-7. The Mids then held serve and broke Army's serve for a second-straight time to emerge with a 9-7 victory and give Navy the very important point.

Navy has won the doubles point during each of its last seven victories.

Half of the six singles matches were extended into three sets, with a total of four set tiebreakers being played, as well.

The Mids quickly took a 2-0 lead after Alex James (Jr., Visalia, Calif.) recorded a 6-2, 6-2 win over Charles Mullenger at No. 5 singles. Army's Eddie Kang proceeded to slice the Navy lead in half with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles over Stanley Kahl (Sr., Richland, Pa.), but Ramsey Lemaich (Fr., Danville, Calif.) increased Navy's lead back to two points with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 win over Bruno Lucivero at No. 6 singles.

Houghton again narrowed the Navy advantage back to one point with a 6-3, 7-6 victory at No. 1 singles over Nelms, but the Mids clinched the overall victory when team captain Adrian Lai (Sr., Tucson, Ariz.) posted a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles over Michael Good.

The last match off the courts saw Muhawi defeat Waters by a score of 7-6, 6-7, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.

The official seedings and quarterfinal round pairings for the Patriot League Tournament will be announced Monday by the league office. The No. 1 seeded team will receive a first-round bye.

If the matches can be played outdoors, they will be contested on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy. Should poor weather force the matches indoors, they will instead be played at the Severn Valley Tennis & Fitness Club.

Navy (13-10, 4-0) def. Army (9-12, 5-1), 4-3
Doubles (Navy wins the doubles point)
1. Nelms/Waters (N) def. Houghton/Muhawi - 9-7
2. Good/Kang (A) def. Kahl/Lai - 8-4
3. James/Lemaich (N) def. Lucivero/Mullenger - 8-6

Singles
1. John Houghton (A) def. Nate Nelms - 6-3, 7-6
2. Phil Muhawi (A) def. Johnny Waters - 7-6, 6-7, 6-0
3. Adrian Lai (N) def. Michael Good - 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
4. Eddie Kang (A) def. Stanley Kahl - 6-4, 6-2
5. Alex James (N) def. Charles Mullenger - 6-2, 6-2
6. Ramsey Lemaich (N) def. Bruno Lucivero - 6-1, 1-6, 6-1