April 3, 2010
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team lost a combined seven games in doubles and just one set in singles on its way to recording a 7-0 victory over Lafayette Saturday morning at the Naval Academy. The victory allowed the Mids to improve their record to 4-0 in the Patriot League this season (12-10 overall), while the Leopards fell to 1-3 in league play (5-8 overall) with the loss.
"We've been waiting for a match like this where we have been able to get things going right from the start," said Navy head coach John Officer.
The Mids quickly secured the doubles point as Navy's Nos. 1 and 2 teams lost a combined three games in winning their respective matches. Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.) and Nicholas Gutsche (Fr., Sarasota, Fla.) posted an 8-2 win over Doug Gallagher and Eric Wiley at No. 1 doubles, then Nick Birger (Jr., Belleville, Ill.) and Mike Eisenberg (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) won an 8-1 decision over Scott Gelbman and Kyle MacLelland at No. 2 doubles.
Completing the three-match sweep was Navy's No. 3 tandem of Eddie Konrad (So., The Woodlands, Texas) and Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.), who won by the score of 8-4 over Andrew Morris and James Murphy.
After losing just seven games in the three doubles matches, the Mids dropped a combined five games in winning the first three singles matches that were completed to clinch the overall team win. Navy's second point was recorded by Zach Nicholson (So., Bowie, Md.), who won a 6-2, 6-0 contest over Justin Haar at No. 4 singles, then the Mids picked up their third point of the day with a 6-0, 6-1 victory by New over Steven Benezra at No. 3 singles. Navy's fourth point of the day was recorded by Matt Richmond (Fr., Kalamazoo, Mich.) thanks to his 6-1, 6-1 win over Murphy at No. 6 singles.
Navy's fifth point was tallied by Bullard, who won the first set of his No. 1 singles match over Wiley by the score of 6-0 before being extended into a tiebreaker in the second set. Bullard would win the breaker by the score of 7-4. Next to finish was Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.), who posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Gallagher at No. 2 singles.
The last match of the day featured Gutsche taking on Gelbman at No. 5 singles. On Friday, Gutsche rallied from a 2-6, 0-5, 0-40 deficit to record a 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 victory over Lehigh's Ryan Krueger. Gutsche again lost the first set Saturday by the score of 6-0, but won the second set by a more comfortable margin of 6-1. Instead of playing a complete third set the duo played a 10-point tiebreaker, which Gutsche won by the score of 10-6.
"Our doubles really got cruising today," said Officer. "Then we played well in all of the singles matches. The one set that we didn't win was really earned by Gelbman, who is a good player.
"We're starting to round into shape and are looking forward to our important matches next weekend."
Navy will play host to Richmond on Saturday April 10 and Army on Sunday, April 11. The latter match against the Black Knights will serve as the annual Star Match between the teams.
Navy (12-10 / 4-0) def. Lafayette (5-8 / 1-3), 7-0
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (match finish order: 1-2-3)
1. Bullard / Gutsche (N) def. Gallagher / Wiley, 8-2
2. Nick Birger / Mike Eisenberg (N) def. Gelbman / Kyle MacLelland, 8-1
3. Eddie Konrad / New (N) def. Andrew Morris / Murphy, 8-4
Singles (match finish order: 4-3-6-1-2-5)
1. Owen Bullard (N) def. Eric Wiley, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Doug Gallagher, 6-2, 6-3
3. Jeremy New (N) def. Steven Benezra, 6-0, 6-1
4. Zach Nicholson (N) def. Justin Haar, 6-2, 6-0
5. Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Scott Gelbman, 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)
6. Matt Richmond (N) def. James Murphy, 6-1, 6-1
