May 11, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas - After narrowly losing the doubles point, the Navy tennis team dropped a trio of straight-set singles matches to lose a 4-0 decision to No. 11 Texas, Friday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Austin, Texas.
Navy, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the Patriot League, ends the season with a 15-11 record, while the 11th-ranked Longhorns improved to 19-8 with the win. Texas will play the winner of Friday's second match between Boise State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday in the second round of the postseason.
"This was a very competitive match, far more than the final score indicates," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We had great chances to win the doubles point and were involved in three very close singles matches."
Despite Navy's No. 2 doubles team of Jason Hill (So., Marietta, Ga.) and Adrian Lai (Sr., Adrian Lai) dropping an 8-4 decision to Luis Diaz Barriga and John Wiegand, the Mids had their opportunities to win the remaining two doubles matches and claim the doubles point.
Navy's No. 3 team of Alex James (Jr., Visalia, Calif.) and Ramsey Lemaich (Fr., Danville, Calif.) broke serve to take a 4-2 lead over Milan Mihailovoc and Jonah Kane-West, but James was immediately broken to put the players back on serve. James was broken again on his next serve to give the Longhorns a 6-5 lead then, after Texas held serve, Lemaich was broken to end the match and give Texas the 8-5 win in the match and the doubles point.
Navy's Nate Nelms (So., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (So., Papillion, Neb.) had a similar match at No. 1 doubles against the 30th-ranked team in the country of Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala. The Mids recorded a break of serve to take a 5-3 lead, but Nelms was broken on his ensuing serve to cut the Navy lead to 5-4. With Navy holding a 6-5 lead and Texas serving, the Mids held a 40-30 lead to go up 7-5, but lost the point and the two ensuing points to tie the match at six games apiece. Waters had his serve broken to give the Longhorns a 7-6 lead when the match was stopped due the doubles point already being won by Texas.
In singles, both Lai and Stanley Kahl (Sr., Richland, Pa.) lost 6-1, 6-1 matches at Nos. 3 and 4 singles, respectively, to put the Mids in a 3-0 hole. Waters then dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Luis Diaz Barriga at No. 2 singles to end the match.
In the unfinished matches, Lemaich held a 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 lead over Rook Schellenberg at No. 6 singles, Nelms trailed 7-6 (4), 1-0 to Dimitar Kutrovsky at No. 1 and Jonah Kane-West held a 7-5, 1-1 lead over James at No. 5.
"We lost decisively to North Carolina in the middle of the season and they are a very comparable team to Texas, so I think the results today showed how much we have improved in a very short time," said Officer.
"I was very pleased with how we came out ready to play today. The NCAA experience and the pressure of playing a nationally-ranked team in a big stadium was not overwhelming."
This was Navy's first Patriot League title and NCAA Tournament appearance in eight years.
"Overall we are pleased with how the season went," said Officer. "We made a lot of strides forward for the program. Now we need to have a good summer and carry this momentum and experience into next year. We have to come back in the fall ahead of where we were at this year, which will result in us being ahead of the game come the start of the spring season."
#11 Texas (19-8) def. Navy (15-11), 4-0
Penick-Allison Tennis Center
Doubles (Texas wins the doubles point)
1 - Kutrovsky / Zavala (T) led Nelms / Waters, 7-6
2 - Diaz Barriga / John Wiegand (T) def. Hill / Lai, 8-4
3 - Mihailovic / Kane-West (T) def. James / Lemaich, 8-5
Singles
1 - Dimitar Kutrovsky (T) led Nate Nelms, 7-6 (4), 1-0
2 - Luis Diaz Barriga (T) def. Johnny Waters, 6-4, 6-2
3 - Milan Mihailovoc (T) def. Adrian Lai, 6-1, 6-1
4 - Josh Zavala (T) def. Stanley Kahl, 6-1, 6-1
5 - Jonah Kane-West (T) led Alex James, 7-5, 1-1
6 - Ramsey Lemaich (N) led Rook Schellenberg, 6-3, 1-6, 1-0
