Jan. 29, 2011

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team combined to win 17 of 18 matches on the day in recording a 6-1 victory over St. Joseph's and a 7-0 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis. The sweep of the matches improves Navy's record on the young season to 3-0.

The Mids will return to the Tose Family Tennis Center Feb. 5 for matches against Villanova (12 Noon) and Howard (5 p.m.).

Navy def. St. Joseph's, 6-1
The Mids played very well in quickly securing the doubles point against the Hawks. Navy's No. 2 team of Nicholas Gutsche (So., Sarasota, Fla.) and Zach Nicholson (Jr., Bowie, Md.) first recorded an 8-1 win over Tommy Gates and Alex Veronis. That was followed by Navy's No. 3 tandem of Marcus Rebersak (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Anderson Walls (So., Alpharetta, Ga.) winning an 8-0 decision against Dan Barrus and Paranjay Malhotra to clinch the doubles point.

Navy would go on to win five of the six singles matches, but not without some challenges along the way. First to finish was the No. 3 match where Nicholson posted a 6-1, 6-3 win over Gates, then the Mids garnered their third team point when Owen Bullard (Sr., Concord, N.C.) tallied a 6-3, 6-3 win against Veronis at No. 1 singles. A 6-4, 6-2 win by Jeremy New (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) over Peter Cognetti at No. 4 singles clinched the match for the Mids.

The ensuing match to finish was the No. 2 singles contest between Rebersak and Jeff Kessler. Rebersak won the first set by the score of 6-4, then lost the second set by the count of 6-3. Kessler would complete the rally with another 6-3 win in the third set. Gutsche soon followed with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Barrus at No. 5 singles and Walls completed play by rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles against Malhotra.

"We played very well in doubles," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We really came out with our guns blazing. But then we struggled at the start of the singles matches. We became a little complacent due to winning the doubles as we did. St. Joseph's rally fought hard in singles, but then we were able to come back on them. All in all, we are pleased to be 2-0 on the year."

Navy def. St. Francis (N.Y.), 7-0
The Mids changed around their lineup slightly against the Terriers, but still came away with a strong showing. Just as in its first match of the day, Navy won each of the doubles matches to record the doubles point. Heyward Drayton (Fr., Valley Forge, Pa.) and Chris Kenney (Fr., Westlake Village, Calif.) teamed up to win an 8-1 decision over Daniel Gonzalez and Martin Grunin at No. 3 doubles, then Birger and Bullard posted an 8-4 win over Tita Mba and Danlahdi Robinson at the No. 1 flight. The Navy duo had won an 8-6 contest earlier n the day. Completing the sweep was Navy's No. 2 tandem of Mike Eisenberg (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) and New, who recorded an 8-4 win over Edward Alontanga and James Brennan Tsang.

The Mids then won each of the six singles matches in straight sets.

Bullard posted a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Robinson at No. 1 singles to tally Navy's second team point. Point No. 3 was recorded when Matt Richmond (So., Kalamazoo, Mich.) won a 6-0, 6-2 match over Gonzalez at No. 5 singles, then New clinched the team win with his 6-0, 6-2 victory over Mba at No. 3 singles.

Rebersak bounced back from his loss earlier in the day to win a 6-3, 6-0 decision over Brennan Tsang at No. 2 singles, Gutsche moved up a position to record a 6-0, 6-2 win over Alex Tokarz at No. 4 singles and Kenney entered the lineup at No. 6 singles and won a 6-2, 6-2 contest against Grunin.

"It was an all-around very good match for us tonight," said Officer. "I think the two teams we faced today are about the same. We just played much better tonight.

"Owen was our player of the day. He played well in doubles alongside Nick and faced a good No. 1 singles player for St. Francis. It also was nice to see Chris do a nice job off of the bench and pick up a decisive win at No. 6 singles."

Navy (2-0) def. St. Joseph's (0-1), 6-1
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (2-3-1)
1 - Nick Birger / Bullard (N) def. Cognetti / Kessler, 8-6
2 - Gutsche / Nicholson (N) def. Gates / Veronis, 8-1
3 - Rebersak / Walls (N) def. Barrus / Malhotra, 8-0
Singles (3-1-4-2-5-6)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Alex Veronis, 6-3, 6-3
2 - Jeff Kessler (St.J) def. Marcus Rebersak, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Tommy Gates, 6-1, 6-3
4 - Jeremy New (N) def. Peter Cognetti, 6-4, 6-2
5 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Dan Barrus, 7-5, 6-4
6 - Anderson Walls (N) def. Paranjay Malhotra, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

Navy (3-0) def. St. Francis (N.Y.) (0-2), 7-0
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (3-1-2)
1 - Nick Birger / Bullard (N) def. Mba / Robinson, 8-4
2 - Mike Eisenberg / New (N) def. Edwards Alontanga / Brennan Tsang, 8-4
3 - Heyward Drayton / Kenney (N) def. Gonzalez / Grunin, 8-1
Singles (1-5-3-2-4-6)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Danlahdi Robinson, 6-0, 6-4
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. James Brennan Tsang, 6-3, 6-0
3 - Jeremy New (N) def. Ita Mba, 6-0, 6-2
4 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Alex Tokarz, 6-0, 6-2
5 - Matt Richmond (N) def. Daniel Gonzalez, 6-0, 6-2
6 - Chris Kenney (N) def. Martin Grunin, 6-2, 6-2