ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Visiting UMBC claimed a closely-contested doubles point and then held on in singles action, topping the Navy men's tennis team, 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.
For the second-straight dual, the doubles point was not decided until the third and final match was complete. After Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.) and Marcus Rebersak (So., Pitsburgh, Pa.) teamed up for an 8-3 victory at No. 3 doubles, the visiting Retrievers evened things up with a 8-6 victory at the No. 2 spot.
The battle at No. 1 doubles saw Navy's Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Nicholas Gutsche (Fr., Sarasota, Fla.) push UMBC's Fredi Voorman and Allen Tsang to a tiebreaker, but the Mids ultimately fell short, giving the Retrievers the doubles point after a 9-8 (4) decision.
Navy would split the six singles contests, with straight-set victories from Bullard, Nicholson and Gutsche. Bullard won a 6-3, 6-2 decision over UMBC's Chris Meyer at No. 1, Nicholson topped by Gaulthier Berret by a 6-4, 6-1 count at No. 4 and Gutsche turned in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mwali Phiri at No. 5 singles.
With the dual tied, 3-3, it came down to No. 3 singles where Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) led after winning the first set, but could not hold on against UMBC's Adam Duprate in a hard-fought three-set decision. Duprate won a final set tiebreaker, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0), to notch the win for the Retrievers.
The loss drops Navy's dual record to 4-9 on the year, while UMBC improves to 9-2 overall.
Navy returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Delaware at noon at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
UMBC def. Navy, 4-3Doubles - 3-2-1 -- UMBC wins the doubles point1 - Voorman/Tsang (UMBC) def. Bullard/Gutsche, 9-8 (4)2 - Berret/Dupat (UMBC) def. Lemaich/Birger, 8-63 - Nicholson / Rebersak def. Meyer/Phiri (UMBC), 8-3
Singles - 1-2-4-5-6-31 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Chris Meyer (UMBC), 6-3, 6-22 - Fredi Voorman (UMBC) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-4, 6-43 - Adam Dupat (UMBC) def. Jeremy New, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (0)4 - Zach Nicholson def. Gaulthier Berret (UMBC), 6-4, 6-15 - Nicholas Gutsche def. Mwali Phiri (UMBC), 6-3, 6-46 - Joe Adewumi (UMBC) def. Matt Richmond, 7-6(6), 6-2
## Go Navy! ##
Final Stats
