Feb. 13, 2011

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's tennis team won 17 of 18 matches on its way to posting a pair of victories over Drexel and Mount St. Mary's Sunday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis. The Midshipmen improved to 7-1 on the year with the 6-1 win over the Dragons and the 7-0 win over the Mountaineers.

Owen Bullard (Sr., Concord, N.C.) was the lone Mid to win all four of his matches on this day. Bullard teamed with Nick Birger (Sr., Belleville, Ill.) at No. 1 doubles to win an 8-6 decision over Drexel's Skyler Davis and Bryan Nguyen as well as record an 8-3 victory over the Mount St. Mary's tandem of Matt Blake and Taylor Place. He would also tally a pair of straight set wins at No. 1 singles. Bullard first posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over Drexel's Nikoloz Kurdadze before recording a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Blake.

Zach Nicholson (Jr., Bowie, Md.), Marcus Rebersak (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Heyward Drayton (Fr., Valley Forge, Pa.) all recorded three victories on the day.

Nicholson won a pair of straight set matches at No. 2 singles and, alongside Nicholas Gutsche (So., Sarasota, Fla.), won a match at No. 2 doubles against the Dragons. Rebersak (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) partnered with Anderson Walls (So., Alpharetta, Ga.) to pick up a pair of doubles wins, with Rebersak adding a three-set win at No. 2 singles against Drexel's Bryan Nguyen. Meanwhile, Drayton won a pair of straight set matches at No. 6 singles and combined with Chris Kenney (Fr., Westlake Village, Calif.) to win an 8-3 decision against the Mount St. Mary's team of Andrew Marinucci and Patrick Plastow at No. 3 doubles.

Birger (doubles), Gutsche (singles and doubles), Walls (doubles) and Jeremy New (Jr., Glen Allen, Va.) (singles) all won two matches on the afternoon, with Kenney and Matt Richmond (So., Kalamazoo, Mich.) (singles) both winning one match.

Even with the two victories and winning 13 of the 14 available team points on the day, Navy head coach John Officer still sees room for improvement in the four-time defending Patriot League champions.

"We need to learn how to set the tone of the matches better for the level of play we want to compete at," said Officer after the win over Drexel. "We are reacting to the level our opponents are playing at instead of being the ones to establish it. I am happy we were able to record a 6-1 win against a good team, but we need to set the tone better.

"Owen was very tough in his matches and Marcus came back to win a difficult singles match. Heyward also did a nice job at No. 6 singles."

Officer would go on to state after the Mount St. Mary's match: "We were a little sloppy all day. We got away with a few things. That should take nothing away from the play of Mount St. Mary's. They are a much improved team from what they have shown the last few years. But we were not as sharp as we were capable of being.

"We are happy to win two matches today and be 7-1 on the year, but we have high goals for this program. We are capable of much more than we have shown."

Navy will hit the road for each of its next four matches. That stretch for the Mids begins Feb. 19 and 20 with matches at UNC Greensboro and William & Mary, respectively.

Navy (6-1) def. Drexel (0-3), 6-1
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (match finish order: 3-1-2)
1 - Nick Birger / Bullard (N) def. Davis / Nguyen, 8-6
2 - Gutsche / Nicholson (N) def. Rhazali / Srinovasan, 8-5
3 - Rebersak / Anderson Walls (N) def. Kurdadze / Joey Wayne, 8-3
Singles (match finish order: 3-6-4-1-5-2)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Nikoloz Kurdadze, 6-4, 6-4
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Bryan Nguyen, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
3 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Mehdi Rhazali, 6-0, 6-3
4 - Jeremy New (N) def. Jeganathan Srinovasan, 6-1, 6-2
5 - Skyler Davis (D) def. Nicholas Gutsche, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7)
6 - Heyward Drayton (N) def. Paul Stauskas, 6-1, 6-3

Navy (7-1) def. Mount St. Mary's (0-1), 7-0
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (match finish order: 3-1-2)
1 - Nick Birger / Bullard (N) def. Blake / Place, 8-3
2 - Marcus Rebersak / Anderson Walls (N) def. Salomon / Zabetakis, 8-3
3 - Drayton / Chris Kenney (N) def. Marinucci / Plastow, 8-3
Singles (match finish order: 3-4-6-5-2-1)
1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Matt Blake, 6-3, 7-5
2 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Mike Salomon, 6-4, 6-2
3 - Jeremy New (N) def. Mike Zabetakis, 6-1, 6-3
4 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Taylor Place, 6-0, 6-2
5 - Matt Richmond (N) def. Patrick Plastow, 6-1, 6-4
6 - Heyward Drayton (N) def. Andrew Marinucci, 7-5, 6-2