Oct. 11, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy tennis team opened the Navy Gold Invitational by combining to post a trio of individual flight victories against 2008 nationally-ranked programs Radford and Furman, Friday and Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.

Navy, the 2008 Patriot League champion, recorded one win in both singles and doubles against last year's Big South champion Radford Friday, then tallied just one doubles win over the 2008 Southern Conference titlist Furman Saturday.

Winning both of their doubles matches over the two days was Navy's number three team of Nick Birger (So., Belleville, Ill.) and team captain Jason Hill (Sr., Marietta, Ga.). The Mids posted an 8-2 win over Radford's Paul Boslet and Navy's Joe Wiggins (So., Acworth, Ga.), then recorded an 8-6 win against Furman's tandem of Daniel Knause and Chris Rhyne.

The lone Navy singles player to post a victory over the two days was Hill, who won a 6-4, 6-4 decision at No. 5 singles over Radford's Zach Watson.

"We had a good match against a very talented and veteran Radford team," said Officer. "After being outplayed in doubles we came back nicely and won four first sets in singles, but could only close out one of those matches.

"There were a number of positives for us from the day. We showed that we can play at this level. However, we lost our composure in certain situations and that cost us. We also have to keep the pace up and be able to go toe-to-toe with our opponents for an entire match.

"I was pleased, for the most part, with our effort against Furman. We got after it, played hard and were upbeat and positive. That's how we need to play, and I was very pleased to see it."

Navy will close play at the three-day tournament Sunday when the Mids face Georgetown in a 2 p.m. match.

Navy vs. Radford (Friday)
Doubles
1 - Benhammou / Salec (R) def. Nelms / Waters, 8-6
2 - Ogrizek / Watson (R) def. Bullard / Lemaich, 8-2
3 - Birger / Hill (N) def. Boslet (R) / Wiggins (N), 8-2
Singles
1 - Ivan Salec (R) def. Nate Nelms, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2
2 - Mehdi Benhammou (R) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-3, 6-1
3 - Igor Ogrizek (R) def. Johnny Waters, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2
4 - Jason Hill (N) def. Zach Watson, 6-4, 6-4
5 - Paul Boslet (R) def. Ramsey Lemaich, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5

Navy vs. Furman (Saturday)
Doubles
1 - Juc / Motes (F) def. Nelms / Waters, 8-5
2 - Ladyman / Walters (F) def. Bullard / Lemaich, 8-6
3 - Nick Birger / Hill (N) def. Knause / Rhyne, 8-6
Singles
1 - Andy Juc (F) def. Nate Nelms, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1
2 - Bo Ladyman (F) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-3, 6-4
3 - Daniel Knause (F) def. Johnny Waters, 6-0, 6-2
4 - Chris Motes (F) def. Jason Hill, 6-4, 6-3
5 - Jordan Walters (F) def. Ramsey Lemaich, 6-2, 6-2
6 - Sawyer Duncan (F) def. Owen Bullard, 6-1, 6-4
7 - Chris Rhyne (F) def. Zach Nicholson, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2