Oct. 9, 2009
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland won all nine matches from Navy on the opening day of the Navy Gold Men's Tennis Invitational, Friday afternoon at the Naval Academy.
Though the Terrapins swept the three doubles matches, the Mids very easily could have come away with a sweep of the contests. Maryland's No. 1 team of John Collins and Mathias Sarrazin posted a 9-7 win over Navy's Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Eddie Konrad (So., The Woodlands, Texas), the Terrapins saw their No. 2 tandem of Ryan Lissner and Sergio Wyss record a 9-8 (8-6 in the tiebreaker) win over Nick Birger (Jr., Belleville, Ill.) and Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.), and Maryland's Graham Knowlton and Ian Mansfield combined for an 8-6 win over Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) and Anderson Walls (Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.) at No. 3 doubles.
"The doubles matches were superb," said Navy head coach John Officer. "Even though we didn't win any of them, we fought very hard and never quit."
The Mids struggled in singles play against the Terrapins. The lone match to be extended into three sets was the No. 2 contest between Wyss and Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.). After Rebersak won the opening set by the score of 7-5, Wyss came back to win sets two and three by identical scores of 6-3.
In other close matches, Collins posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over Bullard at No. 1, Knowlton won a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 decision over New at No. 4 and Mansfield emerged with a hard-fought 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 win over Konrad at No. 6.
"Our singles play was erratic in terms of the way we want to compete," said Officer. "I think half of the guys had the intensity we wanted to see, while the other half were inconsistent. Playing a more complete match is what we will be looking for Saturday."
The Mids return to the courts Saturday at 9 a.m. to face George Washington, while Maryland will take on Georgetown at 2 p.m. 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. Maryland
Doubles
1 - Collins / Sarrazin (MD) def. Bullard / Konrad, 9-7
2 - Lissner / Wyss (MD) def. Nick Birger / Nicholson, 9-8 (6)
3 - Knowlton / Mansfield (MD) def. New / Walls, 8-6
Singles
1 - John Collins (MD) def. Owen Bullard, 6-4, 6-4
2 - Sergio Wyss (MD) def. Marcus Rebersak, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
3 - Ryan Lissner (MD) def. Anderson Walls, 6-3, 6-0
4 - Graham Knowlton (MD) def. Jeremy New, 7-6 (4), 6-4
5 - Mathias Sarrazin (MD) def. Zach Nicholson, 6-2, 6-2
6 - Ian Mansfield (MD) def. Eddie Konrad, 7-6 (8), 6-4
