Oct. 10, 2009
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's tennis team bounced back from a tough first day at the Navy Gold Invitational to win seven of 11 matches against George Washington, Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.
"This was a great day for us, especially with having as young of a team as we do," said Navy head coach John Officer. "George Washington defeated us by the score of 4-3 last spring, but while they return pretty much their lineup intact from that day we only have two starters back for us. The guys showed a lot of character today."
The day began with Navy picking up wins in three of the four doubles matches. The first match to finish saw Navy's No. 4 team of Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Matt Richmond (Fr., Kalamazoo, Mich.) win an 8-2 match over Garrett Lockhart and Ken Mkrtchian. Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Eddie Konrad (So., The Woodlands, Texas) then combined to post an 8-6 win over Ugar Atalay and Chris Kushman at No. 1 doubles, with Navy's No. 3 team of Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) and Anderson Walls (Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.) winning by the same score against the duo of Eric Hannah and Arya Vayghan.
"Owen and Eddie played very well today," said Officer. "They were really clicking out there. Anderson and Jeremy have a lot of energy on the court. They are always pumped up."
Konrad would go on to drop just four games in winning a 6-1, 6-3 contest over Mkrtchian at No. 6 singles. Winning in three sets for Navy were both Walls and Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.). Walls won a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 decision over Vayghan at No. 3 singles while Nicholson won a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 match over Richard Blumenfeld at No. 5 singles.
"Anderson was down two breaks of serve in a set but was able to pull it together and come away with a nice win," said Officer. "Zach did a good job out there, and Eddie played very well in his match."
Completing the list Navy victories on the day was Nick Birger (Jr., Belleville, Ill.), who won a pro set by the score of 8-2 over Garrett Lockhart at No. 8 singles.
The Mids return to the courts Sunday at 9 a.m. to face Georgetown to start the final day of the tournament. That initial contest will be followed by a 2 p.m. match between Maryland and George Washington. Weather permitting, both matches will be played outdoors on the USNA eighth wing courts. Should poor weather force the matches inside, they will instead by moved to the Tose Family Tennis Center.
Navy vs. George Washington
Doubles
1 - Bullard / Konrad (N) def. Atalay / Kushma, 8-6
2 - Blumenfeld / Levinski (GW) def. Birger / Nicholson, 8-5
3 - New / Walls (N) def. Eric Hannah / Vayghan, 8-6
4 - Rebersak / Matt Richmond (N) def. Lockhart / Mkrtchian, 8-2
Singles
1 - Chris Kushma (GW) def. Owen Bullard, 6-2, 7-6 (2)
2 - Ugar Atalay (GW) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-4, 6-2
3 - Anderson Walls (N) def. Arya Vayghan, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
4 - Yan Levinski (GW) def. Jeremy New, 6-3, 7-6 (8)
5 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Richard Blumenfeld, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
6 - Eddie Konrad (N) def. Ken Mkrtchian, 6-1, 6-3
7 - no match
8 - Nick Birger (N) def. Garrett Lockhart, 8-2
