March 28, 2009

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team opened its 2009 Patriot League season by recording a 6-1 victory over Colgate, Saturday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.

The Mids (12-6, 1-0 Patriot League) started out fast by losing only a combined 11 games in winning each of the three doubles matches over the Raiders (7-7, 1-1). First to finish was Navy's No. 3 team of Owen Bullard (So., Concord, N.C.) and Ramsey Lemaich (Jr., Danville, Calif.), who won an 8-4 decision over Jamie Pellechi and Michael Yassky. The Mids then claimed the doubles point with an 8-4 win by Nick Birger (So., Belleville, Ill.) and Jason Hill (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) over Phil Bernasek and Ruslan Goussiantnikov at No. 2 doubles.

"We played very well in doubles today," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We then followed that up with very strong starts in the singles matches."

Navy followed its performance in doubles by winning five straight-set singles matches, with no Mid dropping more than five games in any of those five victories.

After Hill posted a 6-1, 6-0 win over Yassky at No. 4 singles, Lemaich followed with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Goussiantnikov at No. 5 singles. John Nogueras picked up Colgate's lone point of the day with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Marcus Rebersak (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) at No. 2 singles, but the Mids clinched the overall match victory when Bullard won a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Sean Spellberg at No. 6 singles.

Rounding out the results on the day were a 6-2, 6-2 win by Johnny Waters (Sr., Papillion, Neb.) over Bernasek at No. 3 singles and a 6-3, 6-2 victory by Nate Nelms (Sr., St. Mary's, Ga.) over Martin MacIntyre at No. 1 singles.

"I felt we played exceptionally well today," said Officer. "We received very solid performances from several players. It would be hard to pick one player who stood out because it really was everyone on the team.

"I think our schedule leading up to the start of league play really helped us out. We have faced a lot of tough teams this season and that allowed us to be ready to go today."

Navy will continue its opening weekend of Patriot League play Sunday when the Mids play host to Bucknell in a 12 Noon match. The match is currently scheduled to be played outdoors on the Navy campus, but could be moved indoors to the Tose Family Tennis Center should poor weather remain in the area.

Navy 6, Colgate 1
Doubles -- Navy wins doubles point (order of finish: 3-2-1)
1. Nelms, Nate / Waters, Johnny (NAVY) def. MacIntyre, Martin / Nogueras, John (COLG) 8-3
2. Birger, Nick / Hill, Jason (NAVY) def. Bernasek, Phil / Goussiantnikov, Ruslan (COLG) 8-4
3. Bullard, Owen / Lemaich, Ramsey (NAVY) def. Pellechi, Jamie / Yassky, Michael (COLG) 8-4
Singles (order of finish: 4-5-2-6-3-1)
1. Nelms, Nate (NAVY) def. MacIntyre, Martin (COLG) 6-3, 6-2
2. Nogueras, John (COLG) def. Rebersak, Marcus (NAVY) 6-2, 6-2
3. Waters, Johnny (NAVY) def. Bernasek, Phil (COLG) 6-2, 6-2
4. Hill, Jason (NAVY) def. Yassky, Michael (COLG) 6-1, 6-0
5. Lemaich, Ramsey (NAVY) def. Goussiantnikov, Ruslan (COLG) 6-2, 6-1
6. Bullard, Owen (NAVY) def. Spellberg, Sean (COLG) 6-1, 6-2