Feb. 7, 2009

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team completed a very two days by recording victories over Villanova and Howard Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis. The Mids (6-1) posted a 6-1 win over the Wildcats (0-2) and a 7-0 victory over the Bison (0-2).

Saturday's matches came one day after the Mids lost a 6-1 decision to No. 74 Maryland.

Navy began the day by narrowly edging Villanova for the doubles point. First off the courts was the No. 1 doubles match where Nate Nelms (Sr., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (Sr., Papillion, Neb.) posted an 8-5 win over Alex Leeser and David Shaheen. The Mids promptly clinched the doubles point when Nick Birger (So., Belleville, Ill.) and Jason Hill (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) won an 8-6 decision over Alex Hanno and Michael Taylor at the No. 3 flight.

The Mids then won three straight set singles matches and two matches in third set tiebreakers (used in place of a complete third set) to record the overall victory. Perhaps the best performance by the Mids came by Ramsey Lemaich (Jr., Danville, Calif.) who won a 6-0, 6-1 match over Trenton Alenik at No. 4 singles. Also winning in straight sets were Nelms at No. 1, a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Leeser, and Hill at No. 3 singles, a 6-3, 6-3 win over Shaheen.

"We had a very competitive match against Villanova," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We were really pushed. The key was winning the doubles point. We didn't play great, but we played well when we needed to. In singles, Ramsey put together a great match and Nate had a solid showing, as well."

In the second match of the day for the Mids, Navy put together a trio of very strong doubles matches against Howard, losing a combined six games in winning the three contests. The Mids then closed out the day by winning four straight set singles matches over the Bison.

Jeremy New (So., Glen Allen, Va.) gave Navy its second point of the match with his 6-1, 6-2 win over Tonique Merrill at No. 6 singles. After Owen Bullard (So., Concord, N.C.) won a 6-4, 6-0 decision over Eric Chavous at No. 3 singles, the Mids clinched the match victory when Eddie Konrad (Fr., The Woodlands, Texas) won a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) match at No. 5 singles against Omar Haloui. Rounding out the foursome of straight set wins for Navy was Hill, who won a 6-4, 6-2 contest at No. 2 singles over Chris Brown.

"I was very pleased with how we played against Howard," said Officer. "We started out very well in doubles. It became a little dicey in the middle of some of the singles matches, but we were able to pull out several close sets and tiebreakers.

"Overall on the day I was pleased with the results and our effort. Our focus was good throughout the day and we are looking forward to continuing that next week."

Navy will be back in the Tose Family Tennis Center Feb. 14 when the Mids play host to St. Joseph's (12 Noon) and George Mason (5 p.m.).

Navy (5-1) def. Villanova (0-2), 6-1
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point -- Finish Order: 1-3-2
1. Nelms / Waters (N) def. Leeser / Shaheen, 8-5
2. Bullard / Lemaich (N) def. Alenik / Zack Siegler, 8-6
3. Nick Birger / Hill (N) def. Hanno / Taylor, 8-6

Singles -- Finish Order: 4-1-6-3-2-5
1. Nate Nelms (N) def. Alex Leeser, 6-4, 6-1
2. Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Brian Maher, 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Jason Hill (N) def. David Shaheen, 6-3, 6-3
4. Ramsey Lemaich (N) def. Trenton Alenik, 6-0, 6-1
5. Owen Bullard (N) def. Michael Taylor, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Alex Hanno (V) def. Zach Nicholson, 6-2, 6-3

Navy (6-1) def. Howard (0-2), 7-0
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point -- Finish Order: 2-3-1
1. Bullard / Ramsey Lemaich (N) def. Brown / Gee, 8-3
2. Jarrad Smoke / Wiggins (N) def. Chavous / Merrill, 8-1
3. Luke Albi / Jared Teichman (N) def. Haloui / Chad Jones, 8-2

Singles -- Finish Order: 6-3-5-4-2-1
1. Johnny Waters (N) def. Michael Gee, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
2. Jason Hill (N) def. Chris Brown, 6-4, 6-2
3. Owen Bullard (N) def. Eric Chavous, 6-4, 6-0
4. Zach Nicholson (N) def. George Diggs, 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
5. Eddie Konrad (N) def. Omar Haloui, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Jeremy New (N) def. Tonique Merrill, 6-1, 6-2