March 18, 2010
Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team made its spring break trip to Florida a successful one as the Mids posted a 7-0 victory over Bethune-Cookman Thursday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla.
Navy, winners of three consecutive matches, is now 7-9 on the season, while Bethune-Cookman fell to 5-9 on the year with the loss.
"We feel fortunate to have been able to have won all of the points," said Navy head coach John Officer. "Bethune-Cookman is much improved from last year (when Navy won a 7-0 decision over the Wildcats) and they really pushed us."
Each of the three doubles matches contested between the teams were close ones. The Mids picked up the first victory when Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Nicholas Gutsche (Fr., Sarasota, Fla.) won an 8-4 decision over Marc Vanja Misanovic and Emil Vassilev at No. 1 doubles, but the Wildcats evened things up with an 8-6 win by Kristofer Martin and Kip Jackson over Jarrad Smoke (Sr., Belmar, N.J.) and Mike Eisenberg (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) at No. 3 doubles. The Mids would earn the doubles point when Navy's Nick Birger (Jr., Belleville, Ill.) and Ramsey Lemaich (Sr., Danville, Calif.) outlasted Cristian Cruz and Jeffrey Smallwood in a tiebreaker. The Navy tandem posted a score of 7-4 in the tiebreaker to record the win.
The Mids then won each of the six singles matches to complete the sweep, but as in the doubles portion of the dual, the majority of the matches were close ones. First to finish was Lemaich, who won a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Kip Jackson at No. 6 singles, then Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.) defeated Martin by the score of 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to give the Mids their third team point of the match. Navy would secure the win after Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished up a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Vassilev at No. 2 singles.
One more Navy win on the day was recorded in straight sets, and that victory was tallied by Gutsche who won a 6-2, 6-3 contest against Cruz at No. 5 singles. In the remaining two matches, Bullard won a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Misanovic at No. 1 singles and Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) posted a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Yannick Jackson at No. 3 singles.
"I was very happy with the way Ramsey played," said Officer. "He has only played one singles match this spring, but we may have to consider putting him into the lineup now. Also, Zach was impressive out there for us, Jeremy trailed 4-1 in the third set to come back to win and Owen played a strong third set."
Thursday's match was played at the Malivai Washington Kids Foundation complex in Jacksonville. The Mids have made a visit to the foundation in each of the last several years as part of their spring break trip. In addition to today's match, the Navy team spent Monday at the foundation giving their annual clinic to the kids of the foundation.
"Our annual visit means a lot to our players and coaches," said Officer. "I know the kids here really look forward to it, too. We as coaches don't run it; our players do. The only guidelines we say to them is to make it fun, and they always do. They really take ownership of it and I am always very proud to see how much they enjoy giving something back to the kids on this day."
Navy will return to the Mid-Atlantic region next week when the Mids play host to George Washington on Wednesday, March 24. Weather permitting, the match will be played outdoors on the grounds of the USNA.
Navy 7, Bethune-Cookman 0
Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (1,3, 2)
1 - Bullard / Gutsche (N) def Misanovic / Vassilev, 8-4
2 - Lemaich / Birger (N) def Smallwood / Cruz, 9-8 (7-4)
3 - Martin / K. Jackson (BC) def. Jarrad Smoke / Mike Eisenberg, 8-6
Singles (6, 4, 2, 5, 1, 3)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def Marc Vanja Misanovic, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def Emil Vassilev, 6-4, 6-3
3 - Jeremy New (N) def Yannick Jackson, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
4 - Zach Nicholson (N) def Kristofer Martin, 6-1, 6-3
5 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def Cristian Cruz, 6-2, 6-3
6 - Ramsey Lemaich (N) def Kip Jackson, 6-1, 7-5
