Feb. 28, 2010

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's tennis team posted a hard-fought 5-2 victory over Drexel Sunday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.

The match between the Mids (4-7) and the Dragons (2-4) began at 3 p.m. Sunday, just 10 hours after the Navy team had returned to Annapolis from South Carolina where it had faced Clemson in a 3 p.m. match Saturday.

"The guys played with a lot of character today," said Navy head coach John Officer. "They fought and battled all day to get the job done. They weren't going to make any excuses out there. These circumstances today made for a good challenge for us."

The Mids began the day by picking wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles to win the doubles point. The first match to finish was the No. 3 flight where Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.) and Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) combined to win an 8-1 decision over the tandem of Alessandro Bozzo and Jeganathan Srinivasan. Navy then clinched the doubles point when Nick Birger (Jr., Belleville, Ill.) and Ramsey Lemaich (Sr., Danville, Calif.) defeated Bryan Nguyen and Mehdi Rhazali by the score of 8-4.

Navy quickly went ahead 2-0 when Matt Richmond (Fr., Kalamazoo, Mich.) won a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Bozzo at No. 6 singles. However, the score was quickly tied at two points apiece as Nikoloz Kurdadze and Manu Bajpai recorded wins for the Dragons at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Kurdadze won a 6-2, 6-4 match over Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) while Bajpai posted a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Rebersak.

A 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 win by Nicholson over Nguyen at No. 4 singles took the Mids to within one point of clinching the team victory. Navy did in fact secure its fourth and deciding team point of the day when Nicholas Gutsche (Fr., Sarasota, Fla.) posted a 6-4, 7-5 win over Srinivasan at No. 5 singles.

The last match to be completed saw Navy's Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) tally a 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) win over Rhazali at No. 5 singles.

"Drexel is a good team," said Officer. "They fought hard out there. The match was great preparation for our upcoming Patriot League season.

"Besides the travel for us, we also played without Anderson Walls (Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.), who usually plays at number three singles for us. That meant we needed four guys in the lower half of our lineup to step up for us today and they did just that."

Navy will return to the Tose Family Tennis Center Thursday at 2 p.m. when the Mids play host to Maryland.

Navy (4-7) def. Drexel (2-4), 5-2
Doubles - 3-2-1 - Navy wins the doubles point
1 - Bajpai / Kurdadze (D) def. Bullard / Eddie Konrad, 8-6
2 - Nick Birger / Ramsey Lemaich (N) def. Nguyen / Rhazali, 8-4
3 - Nicholson / Rebersak (N) def. Bozzo / Srinivasan, 8-1
Singles - 6-1-2-4-5-3
1 - Nikoloz Kurdadze (D) def. Owen Bullard, 6-2, 6-4
2 - Manu Bajpai (D) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-3, 6-4
3 - Jeremy New (N) def. Mehdi Rhazali, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
4 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Bryan Nguyen, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
5 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Jeganathan Srinivasan, 6-4, 7-5
6 - Matt Richmond (N) def. Alessandro Bozzo, 6-2, 6-2