March 27, 2010

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Navy men's tennis team rallied after losing the doubles point to win five straight set singles matches and post a 5-2 victory over Bucknell Saturday afternoon in Lewisburg, Pa.

Bucknell (3-10, 0-1 Patriot League) quickly won the doubles point as its Nos. 1 and 3 tandems lost a combined four games in picking up a pair of wins over the Navy (8-10, 2-0) duos. Josh Katten and Evan Zimmer won an 8-1 decision over Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.) and Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) at No. 3 doubles, which was soon followed by Anton Kovic and Kelly Morque recording an 8-3 win over Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Nicholas Gutsche (Fr., Sarasota, Fla.) at No. 3 doubles.

"We were not ready to play in doubles," said Navy head coach John Officer. "It was a little surprising after we were able to win the doubles point Wednesday against George Washington, but mentally we were not ready to go today."

Navy would bounce back to win the first three completed singles matches to build a 3-1 lead over Bucknell. Picking up the first point of the day for the Mids was Gutsche with his 6-3, 6-2 win over Morque at No. 5 singles. Next off was Nicholson, who posted a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) victory over Zach Hascoe at No. 4 singles. Rounding out the run of success by the Mids was Bullard, who recorded a 7-5, 6-3 win over Kovic at No. 1 singles.

The Bison closed the margin to 3-2 after Gregory Maxson won a 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 contest against Ramsey Lemaich (Sr., Danville, Calif.) at No. 6 singles. Securing the team victory for Navy was Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) with his 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over Katten at No. 4 singles.

The last match to be completed was at No. 2 singles where Rebersak won a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) decision over Gregg Cohenca.

"Everyone came out of the break fired up and ready to go in singles," said Officer. "Overall, by the end of the day I was pleased because we showed we can come back if we do lose the doubles point. The team showed a lot of character today with playing on the road against a very motivated Bucknell team. We came back in singles and did a very good job."

Navy will be home Sunday for a pair of matches against Villanova (10:30 a.m.) and Howard (3:30 p.m.). Both of the matches will be played indoors at the Tose Family Tennis Center.

Navy (8-10/2-0) def. Bucknell (3-10/0-1), 5-2
Doubles -- Bucknell wins the doubles point (finish order: 3, 1, 2)
1 - Kovic / Morque (B) def. Bullard / Gutsche, 8-3
2 - Nick Birger / Lemaich (N) def. Cohenca / Ryan Marcil, 8-6
3 - Katten / Evan Zimmer (B) def. Nicholson / Rebersak, 8-1
Singles (finish order: 5, 4, 1, 6, 3, 2)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Anton Kovic, 7-5, 6-3
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Gregg Cohenca, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)
3 - Jeremy New (N) def. Josh Katten, 7-6 (4), 6-2
4 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Zach Hascoe, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
5 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Kelly Morque, 6-3, 6-2
6 - Gregory Maxson (B) def. Ramsey Lemaich, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3