March 1, 2008

Final Stats

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Navy tennis team lost its second match in as many days to a nationally-ranked program with a 7-0 setback to No. 30 North Carolina State Saturday morning at the Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C.

The Mids previously had lost a 7-0 decision to No. 42 Clemson Friday afternoon.

"This week was a good learning experience for us," said Navy head coach John Officer. "It is tough to get beaten up like this, but we have to do that in order to prepare ourselves for the Patriot League season. We played teams on this trip who are competing at a very high level in a big-time collegiate environment and that can only help us down the road."

The Wolfpack won the three doubles matches against the Mids and then dropped only one set in winning the six singles contests. The best match of the day for Navy came at No. 1 singles where Nate Nelms (Jr., St. Mary's, Ga.) won the first set from James McGee, 6-4, before losing the second set by the score of 6-2. McGee then won the match by winning the tiebreaker (used in place of a complete third set) 10-6.

"North Carolina State played extremely well," said Officer. "They are very aggressive in the mid court and have big serves. Nate did a good job at No. 1 singles, while our other matches were okay. We need to learn to be more aggressive."

In addition to the Wolfpack holding a national ranking as a team, several individual players on the squad also have earned regional rankings. Jay Weinacker, who recorded a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Johnny Waters (Jr., Papillion, Neb.) at No. 2 singles, is ranked 23rd in the Mideast Region, while Nick Cavaday, who posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Ramsey Lemaich (So., Danville, Calif.) at No. 3 singles, is ranked 25th regionally. Finally, the No. 1 doubles tandem of Cavaday and Weinacker is ranked eighth in the region and ninth in the nation.

"North Carolina State was a top-eight team in the NCAA Tournament last year and I expect they will be in the mix again this year," said Officer.

Navy will return to Annapolis to play host to Delaware Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. Weather permitting, the match will be played at the U.S. Naval Academy. Should conditions force the match to be played indoors, it will move to the Tose Family Tennis Center.

"Delaware is an important match for us," said Officer. "We would love to have a big crowd out for us."

#30 North Carolina State 7, Navy 0
Doubles -- N.C. State wins the doubles point (match finish order: 3-1-2)
1 - #9 Cavaday / Weinacker (NCST) def. Nelms / Waters, 8-0
2 - McGee / Welte (NCST) def. James / Lemaich, 8-5
3 - Frideric Prandecki / David Rozek (NCST) def. Nick Birger / Bullard, 8-2
Singles (match finish order: 6-3-5-2-4-1)
1 - James McGee (NCST) def. Nate Nelms, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)
2 - Jay Weinacker (NCST) def. Johnny Waters, 6-1, 6-0
3 - Nick Cavaday (NCST) def. Ramsey Lemaich, 6-0, 6-2
4 - Derek Stephens (NCST) def. Alex James, 6-1, 6-2
5 - Christian Welte (NCST) def. Owen Bullard, 6-4, 6-0
6 - David Chermak (NCST) def. Joe Wiggins, 6-1, 6-0

Navy -- 9-5; North Carolina State -- 6-3