Daytona Beach, Fla. - The Navy men's tennis team (12-7) defeated Bethune-Cookman, 5-2, on Thursday afternoon. Navy has now won five of its last seven matches. A strong Wildcat team falls to 6-6 on the season.
"I'm very pleased with the win today," head coach John Officer said. "This is a good Bethune-Cookman program that we beat, they are much improved and their coaches have done a great job. We were just physically too much for them today. Both Jeremy New and Matt Richmond came back from a set down and this is the kind of match that we need to win in order to win the Patriot League title."
After Navy swept three doubles matches to take the opening point, Marcus Rebersak (Jr. / Pittsburgh, Pa.) put Navy up 2-0 with a win over Emil Vassilev, 6-3, 3-0 (ret.) at No. 2 singles. The score would soon be tied at 2-2, however, as Bethune-Cookman picked up a pair of wins at Nos. 4 and 1 singles. Kristofer Martin posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over Nicholas Gutsche at No. 4 singles, then Marc Misanovic won a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 decision over Owen Bullard at No. 1 singles.
Heyward Drayton gave the Mids a 3-2 lead when he won a 6-3, 6-1 match over Kip Jackson at No. 5 singles, then Matt Richmond defeated Vitor Belucci, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 4-0 (ret.) at No. 6 singles to win the match for Navy.
The final match of the day saw Jeremy New (Sr. / Glen Allen, Va.) outlast Santiago Loebl, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-3), at No. 3 singles.
The men's tennis team will next take on George Washington at home next Wednesday.
Navy 7, Bethune-Cookman 0
Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (2-3-1)
1 - Birger/Bullard (N) def. Smallwood/Misanovic, 8-5
2 - Gutsche/Rebersak (N) def. Martin/Lobelo, 8-2
3 - Drayton/New (N) def. Belucci/Jackson, 8-5
Singles - (2-4-1-5-6-3)
1 - Marc Misanovic (B) def. Owen Bullard, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
2 - Marcus Rebersak (N) def. Emil Vassilev, 6-3, 3-0 (ret.)
3 - Jeremy New (N) def. Santiago Lobel, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-3)
4 - Kristofer Martin (B) def. Nicholas Gutsche, 6-2, 6-1
5 - Heyward Drayton (N) def. Kip Jackson, 6-3, 6-1
6 - Matt Richmond (N) def. Vitor Belucci (B), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 4-0 (ret.)
