March 28, 2010

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team improved its record to 6-1 over its last seven matches by tallying a pair of victories Sunday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis. The Mids, now 10-10 on the season, began the day by posting a 6-1 victory over Villanova before ending the day by recording a 7-0 win over Howard.

"We began the year with two losses to James Madison and Campbell, two teams that we were capable of beating, so that got the season off on the wrong foot," said Navy head coach John Officer. "It took us awhile to get things together. This is the time of year where we have been able to get on a roll in the past. We take our lumps in January and February, learn some lessons and then apply them here in March and April."

Navy 6, Villanova 1
Villanova started the match by having its No. 3 doubles team of Trenton Alenik and Connor Witty record an 8-4 win over Navy's tandem of Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.) and Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.). That put the Mids in danger of losing the doubles point for the second time in as many matches. However, Navy picked up wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles to put the first team point of the match up on the scoreboard. Evening things up in the doubles competition was Navy's No. 1 team of Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Nicholas Gutsche (Fr., Sarasota, Fla.), who won an 8-4 decision over Alex Leeser and David Shaheen. Not long after that match was completed, Nick Birger (Jr., Belleville, Ill.) and Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) finished up an 8-4 win over John Drosick and Alex Hanno to secure the doubles point.

Bullard quickly posted Navy's second team point of the day with his 6-2, 6-4 win over Leeser at No. 1 singles, then Matt Richmond (Fr., Kalamazoo, Mich.) won a 6-2, 6-2 match against Liam Bohonnon to make the score 3-0. The Mids clinched the team victory with Nicholson's 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win over Hanno at No. 4 singles.

Also posting singles victories for Navy against Villanova were Gutsche, who won a 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6) match over Alenik at No. 5 singles, and Rebersak, won recorded a 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 1-0 (10-3) victory over Shaheen at No. 2 singles.

"We started a little slow in doubles, but otherwise it was a good performance for us," said Officer. "Nick did a nice job in coming back from being down both a set and a break of serve to win, Marcus lost the first set but wound up winning, and both Owen and Matt had nice straight set wins for us.

"Villanova beat Army last year, so we know they are a good team and are happy to pick up the win."

Navy 7, Howard 0
Navy's doubles teams lost a combined eight games in winning each of the three matches to give the Mids the doubles point. The teams of Bullard and Gutsche at No. 1 and Eddie Konrad (So., The Woodlands, Texas) and Rebersak at No. 2 both won their respective matches by identical scores of 8-3, while Mike Eisenberg (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) and Jarrad Smoke (Sr., Belmar, N.J.) made their first action of the day an 8-2 victory at No. 3 doubles.

After the conclusion of his No. 3 doubles match, Howard's Brandon Burns was unable to continue playing due to an injury, so his default to Eisenberg at No. 6 singles gave Navy an immediate 2-0 lead. Each of the remaining five singles matches were won in straight sets by the Mids to allow Navy to post a 7-0 win in the match.

Rebersak gave Navy its third point of the match with his 6-2, 6-1 win over Devard Wharton at No. 2 singles. Bullard then posted a 6-3, 7-5 win over Omar Haloui at No. 1 singles to clinch the team win for the Mids with his fourth victory of the day. Next to finish was Richmond, who completed a 6-2, 6-0 win over Tonique Merrell at No. 5 singles, with New soon completing a 6-4, 6-4 win over George Diggs at No. 3 singles. Ending the 10-hour day for the Mids was Gutsche with his 6-4, 6-3 victory over Eric Chavous at No. 4 singles.

"It was a good effort for us," said Officer. "It was our fourth match of the week and our third since Saturday morning, so we were running on empty a little bit. It is important this time of year to be able to take our energy to another level no matter how tired we may be. The guys were able to do just that.

"We are very happy with our depth and that allowed us to add in some different players from this morning in doubles and they came through for us. Eddie and Jeremy stepped in as a doubles team and won this afternoon, and Owen didn't drop a set in winning four matches today."

Looking Ahead
Navy will continue with its homestand this coming weekend when the Mids play host to Lehigh Friday at 12 Noon and Lafayette Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Both matches are currently slated to be played outdoors on the grounds of the USNA.

Navy (9-10) def. Villanova (2-14), 6-1
Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (finish order: 3-1-2)
1 - Bullard / Gutsche (N) def. Leeser / Shaheen, 8-4
2 - Nick Birger / New (N) def. John Drosick / Hanno, 8-4
3 - Alenik / Witty (V) def. Nicholson / Rebersak, 8-4
Singles (finish order: 1-6-4-3-5-2)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Alex Leeser, 6-2, 6-4
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. David Shaheen, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 1-0 (10-3)
3 - Connor Witty (V) def. Jeremy New, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
4 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Alex Hanno, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
5 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Trenton Alenik, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
6 - Matt Richmond (N) def. Liam Bohonnon, 6-2, 6-2

Navy (10-10) def. Howard (2-7), 7-0
Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (finish order: 3-2-1)
1 - Bullard / Gutsche (N) def. Haloui / Wharton, 8-3
2 - Eddie Konrad / New (N) def. Chavous / Merrell, 8-3
3 - Eisenberg / Jarrad Smoke (N) def. Burns / Diggs, 8-2
Singles (finish order: 6-2-1-5-3-4)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Omar Haloui, 6-3, 7-5
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Devard Wharton, 6-3, 6-1
3 - Jeremy New (N) def. George Diggs, 6-4, 6-4
4 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Eric Chavous, 6-4, 6-3
5 - Matt Richmond (N) def. Tonique Merrell, 6-2, 6-0
6 - Mike Eisenberg (N) def. Brandon Burns, default (injury)