March 12, 2008

Final Stats

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Navy tennis team opened its spring break trip to Florida by splitting a pair of matches Wednesday in Jacksonville. The Midshipmen first posted a 4-3 victory over Appalachian State before dropping a 7-0 decision to ninth-ranked North Carolina.

Navy (11-6) will conclude its series of matches on its trip Thursday afternoon when the Mids face Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach.

The Mids earned the doubles point for the 12th time this season when Navy recorded wins at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles against Appalachian State. Navy's No. 1 team of Nate Nelms (Jr., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (Jr., Papillion, Neb.) posted an 8-4 win over Ryan Brookshaw and Lee Floyd, while Nick Birger (Fr., Belleville, Ill.) and Jason Hill (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) recorded a win over David Doverspike and Bobby Lake by an identical score at the No. 3 flight.

The Mountaineers (4-5) evened the match at one point apiece when Brookshaw recorded a 6-1, 6-1 win over Waters at No. 2 singles. Navy promptly pulled ahead by the score of 3-1 following straight-set wins by Alex James (Sr., Visalia, Calif.) at No. 5 singles (7-5, 6-2) and Nelms at No. 1 singles (6-3, 7-5). Appalachian State picked up the next two points, however, to again tie the match at 3-3. Floyd tallied a 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over Ramsey Lemaich (So., Danville, Calif.) at the No. 4 flight, then Trent Constance posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Hill at the No. 3 flight.

The last match of the day featured Navy's Owen Bullard (Fr., Concord, N.C.) taking on ASU's David Doverspike. Bullard won the first set by the score of 6-1, but Doverspike won a 6-0 second set to send the match to a third and final set. Bullard would win the match and tally the winning point for the Mids with a 6-2 victory in the third set.

"We beat a good team in Appalachian State," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We handled some of the distractions we went through in the match very well and did a nice job in picking up the win. I was pleased with how we performed."

Though the Mids did not record a team point during their second match of the day against the Tar Heels (10-3), Navy's No. 1 doubles team of Nelms and Waters did post an 8-5 win over Lenny Gullan and David Stone. The North Carolina duo was ranked among the top-10 doubles teams in the country last year.

After earning the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, the Tar Heels did not drop a set in winning the six singles matches.

"We fought hard against a North Carolina team that is the most talented team we will face this season," said Officer. "We worked hard and did not back down at any point. I feel we got a lot out of this match."

Both of Navy's matches were contested at the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation Tennis Complex in Jacksonville. The Navy team has made annual visits to the foundation to conduct clinics for the kids -- which the Mids did again Monday night -- but this was the first time Navy participated in a match at the complex.

"It was very special for us to be able to play these matches where we did today," said Officer. "Mal (a finalist at Wimbledon in 1996) was there and so were all of the kids at the foundation. It meant a lot for us to be able to play here and in front of all of them."

Navy (11-5) def. Appalachian State (4-5), 4-3
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (match finish order: 3-2-1)
1 - Nelms / Waters (N) def. Brookshaw / Floyd, 8-4
2 - Constance / Jacobs (A) def. James / Lemaich, 8-4
3 - Nick Birger / Hill (N) def. Doverspike / Lake, 8-4
Singles (match finish order: 2-5-1-4-3-6)
1 - Nate Nelms (N) def. Bobby Lake, 6-3, 7-5
2 - Ryan Brookshaw (A) def. Johnny Waters, 6-1, 6-1
3 - Trent Constance (A) def. Jason Hill, 6-4, 6-4
4 - Lee Floyd (A) def. Ramsey Lemaich, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
5 - Alex James (N) def. Peter Jacobs, 7-5, 6-2
6 - Owen Bullard (N) def. David Doverspike, 6-1, 0-6, 6-2

#9 North Carolina (10-3) def. Navy (11-6), 7-0
Doubles -- North Carolina wins the doubles point (match finish order: 3-2-1)
1 - Nelms / Waters (N) def. Lenny Gullan / David Stone, 8-5
2 - Fogelman / Hardy (UNC) def. James / Lemaich, 8-0
3 - Donato / Kearney (UNC) def. Nick Birger / Hill, 8-3
Singles (match finish order: 4-5-3-6-2-1)
1 - #112 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) def. Nate Nelms, 6-1, 6-4
2 - Stefan Hardy (UNC) def. Johnny Waters, 6-4, 6-0
3 - Clay Donato (UNC) def. Jason Hill, 6-2, 6-3
4 - Chris Kearney (UNC) def. Ramsey Lemaich, 6-2, 6-2
5 - Taylor Fogelman (UNC) def. Alex James, 6-3, 6-0
6 - Will Plyler (UNC) def. Owen Bullard, 6-2, 6-1