Sept. 14, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy sophomore Ramsey Lemaich (Danville, Calif.) won both of his matches Friday on the first day of the squad's season-opening Navy Invitational tournament. The Mids faced a combined team of players from Arkansas and Oklahoma to begin the three-day tournament being held at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Lemaich first teamed with Alex James (Sr., Visalia, Calif.) to record an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles over the Arkansas tandem of Taylor King and Bradwin Williams. Lemaich, the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, then went on to post a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles over King.

"Ramsey worked hard all summer and has a lot of confidence right now," said Navy head coach John Officer. "He plays aggressive, but stays under control. He serve has also become bigger.

"He is playing an important spot for us in the middle of our lineup. We need someone to step up and take control of that position. Ramsey seems as if he is capable of doing just that."

Lemaich's wins were the only two recorded on the day by the Mids in the nine contested matches. Navy did have several additional opportunities to post victories, however. The No. 3 doubles team of Jason Hill (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) and Jarrad Smoke (So., Belmar, N.J.) served for its match against Sergey Avdeyev from Arkansas and Oklahoma's Jorge Villanueva at 7-6, but were broken and lost the next two games, as well, to lose the match by the score of 9-7.

In singles, both Johnny Waters (Jr., Papillion, Neb.) and Hill won the first set of their matches at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, but ended up losing their matches. Waters dropped a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 decision to Williams, while Hill suffered a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 setback to Oklahoma's Frederico Chavarria.

"It was a competitive day of tennis for us, especially with it being the first matches of the season and against the caliber of players we faced today," said Officer.

Play will continue Saturday at the Navy Invitational with the Mids playing members of the combined team of Maryland and Princeton at 9 a.m., with St. Joseph's taking on Arkansas and Oklahoma at 2 p.m. Weather permitting, the match will be played outdoors on The Yard. Should poor weather force the match indoors, they will be moved to the Severn Valley Tennis & Fitness Club.

Singles
1 - Sergey Avdeyev (O) def. Nate Nelms (N), 7-5, 6-2
2 - Bradwin Williams (A) def. Johnny Waters (N), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3 - Frederico Chavarria (O) def. Jason Hill (N), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
4 - Ramsey Lemaich (N) def. Taylor King (A), 6-4, 6-4
5 - Ryan Thomas (O) def. Alex James (N), 6-1, 6-4
6 - Jorge Villanueva (A) def. Jarrad Smoke (N), 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1 - Thomas/Chavarria (O) def. Nelms/Waters (N), 8-2
2 - James/Lemaich (N) def. King/Williams (A), 8-6
3 - Avdeyev (O)/Villanueva (A) def. Hill/Smoke (N), 9-7