Feb. 5, 2011

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Annapolis, Md. - The Navy men's tennis team (5-0) scored a pair of victories over Villanova (0-4) and Howard (0-6) at the Toes Family Tennis Center on Saturday. Navy began the day by recording a 6-1 victory over Villanova.

The doubles point between the Mids and the Wildcats was not decided until the final match was completed. First to finish was the No. 1 doubles match where Villanova's tandem of Trenton Alenik and Thomas O'Brien combined for an 8-6 win over Nick Birger (Sr., Belleville, Ill.) and Owen Bullard (Sr., Concord, N.C.). Navy evened the matches at one win apiece when Mike Eisenberg (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) and Jeremy New (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) posted an 8-5 win against the team of John Drosick and Kyle Grandin. The Mids then earned the doubles point when Nicholas Gutsche (So., Sarasota, Fla.) and Zach Nicholson (Jr., Bowie, Md.) recorded an 8-5 win over Matt Colonnese and Ryan Peyton.

The Navy lead quickly grew to 2-0 when Gutsche lost just one game in defeating Andrew Adler at No. 5 singles, and it soon became 3-0 as New tallied a 6-2, 6-4 win over Colonnese at No. 4 singles. Villanova earned what would prove to be its lone point of the day when O'Brien won a 6-2, 6-4 match against Marcus Rebersak at No. 2 singles. That result made the score 3-1, but Navy clinched the overall team victory when Bullard defeated Alenik by the score of 7-5, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.

The remaining matches saw Nicholson win a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) decision over Peyton at No. 3 and Anderson Walls (So., Alpharetta, Ga.) post a 6-4, 7-5 win over Liam Bohonnon at No. 6.

"Villanova is a very scrappy team," said Navy head coach John Officer. "They really pushed us and gave us all we could handle. We started a little shaky in the doubles, but the win by Mike and Jeremy really got us going. We were happy to end up with a good showing this afternoon."

Navy blanked Howard in the nightcap, 7-0.

The Mids picked up a quick win at No. 1 doubles when Bullard and Birger knocked off Omar Haloui and Eric Chavous, 8-3. Navy then secured the doubles point with Heyward Drayton (Fr., Valley Forge) and Chris Kenney (Fr., Westlake Village, Calif.) earning an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles over Devard Wharton and Bogdan Dzakovic.

"We used five different doubles pairings in its two matches today, which is pretty unheard of," said Officer. "We want to reward our guys for their hard work and I'm proud of our subs that really stepped up today."

Bullard would go on to win his second match of the day at No. 1 singles, beating Christopher Brown, 6-4, 4-1 (ret.), to push Navy's team score to 2-0.

"Owen was nails today. He played great in both singles and doubles," Officer said.

Rebersak atoned from his loss earlier in the day, as he defeated Haloui at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-2. Gutsche would then push Navy's lead to 4-0 and clinch the win with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Chavous at No. 5 singles. Walls, picked up a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles over Dzakovic and Nicholson beat Wharton, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. In the final match of the day, New defeated George Diggs at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 7-6.

"I'm really happy with how we played against Howard. We have been working hard in practice on our weaknesses and it has been paying off. That was a good Howard team, they have big-time talent."

The Mids will next head to North Carolina for a match against the Tar Heels on Tuesday.

Navy (4-0) def. Villanova (0-4), 6-1

Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (1-3-2)1 - Alenik / O'Brien (V) def. Nick Birger / Bullard, 8-62 - Gutsche / Nicholson (N) def. Colonnese / Peyton, 8-53 - Mike Eisenberg / New (N) def. John Drosick / Kyle Grandin, 8-4Singles (5-4-2-1-3-6)1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Trenton Alenik, 7-5, 6-12 - Thomas O'Brien (V) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-2, 6-43 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Ryan Peyton, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)4 - Jeremy New (N) def. Matt Colonnese, 6-2, 6-45 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Andrew Adler, 6-1, 6-06 - Anderson Walls (N) def. Liam Bohonnon, 6-4, 7-5

Navy (5-0) def. Howard (0-6), 7-0

Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (1-3-21 - Bullard / Birger (N) def. Haloui / Chavous, 8-32 - Rebersak / Walls (N) def. Brown / Diggs, 8-63 - Drayton / Kennay (N) def. Wharton / Dzakovic, 8-2Singles (1-2-5-6-3-4)1 - Owen Bullard (N) def. Christopher Brown, 6-4, 4-1 (ret.)2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Omar Haloui, 6-4, 6-23 - Zach Nicholson (N) def. Devard Wharton, 6-2, 6-44 - Jeremy New (N) def. George Diggs, 6-3, 7-65 - Nicholas Gutsche (N) def. Eric Chavous, 6-0, 6-36 - Anderson Walls (N) def. Bogdan Dzakovic, 6-1, 6-1