April 9, 2011

Final Stats

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Army won the doubles point and half of the six singles matches to post a 4-3 victory over the Navy men's tennis team Saturday afternoon at Malek Courts in West Point, N.Y. It is the sixth time in the last seven Star Matches that the final score has been 4-3, and the second consecutive season in which the Black Knights have defeated the Midshipmen by that tally.

"Today was disappointing," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We definitely had our opportunities."

Army (11-10, 6-0 Patriot League) received a big boost to its efforts when it earned the doubles point. Navy (16-10, 3-2) put itself in a good position, however, thanks to winning the first doubles match to be completed. Nick Birger (Sr., Belleville, Ill.) and Owen Bullard (Sr., Concord, N.C.) combined to record an 8-5 victory over Tripp Johnson and Donald Van Velzer at the No. 1 flight. Army would tie the doubles results at one win apiece when Asika Isoh and Henry Jang-Milsten posted an 8-6 win over Marcus Rebersak (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Jeremy New (Sr., Glen Allen, Va.) at No. 3 doubles. The Black Knights would win the doubles point when Alex Holland and Gary Kushnirovich tallied an 8-5 win over Mike Eisenberg (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) and Nicholas Gutsche (So., Sarasota, Fla.) at No. 2 doubles.

"We played very well at No. 1 doubles and okay at No. 2 doubles," said Officer. "We didn't take advantage of the matchup as we could have at No. 3 doubles, and that hurt us."

The winner of the doubles point between the teams entered play today having won 21 of the last 23 matches in the series since 1997. The two teams would split the six singles matches Saturday to allow Army to successfully continue with that recent history.

The singles portion of the match saw New bounce right back from his tough doubles setback to defeat Van Velzer by the score of 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 3 flight to give Navy its first team point of the day. Army regained the lead when Kushnirovich recorded a 6-3, 6-4 win over Rebersak at No. 2 singles. The score would be tied for a second time at 2-2 as Bullard rallied after losing the first set to post a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Isoh at the No. 1 flight.

The Black Knights again took the lead as Johnson won a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) decision over Heyward Drayton (Fr., Valley Forge, Pa.) at No. 4 singles, but the lead was short lived as Birger handed Jang-Milsten a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) defeat at No. 6 singles to knot the match at 3-3.

What would turn out to be the deciding match of the day saw Gutsche win the first set of his match at No. 5 singles against Holland by the score of 6-2. Holland would win the second set by the score of 6-3, then tallied a 6-4 win in the third set to give the Black Knights the victory.

"All of our wins today came from seniors," said Officer. "We are just not getting the contributions from the rest of the classes as we need to. We've gotten away with it at times this year, but we couldn't today."

Navy will now prepare for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament to be this coming week held in Bethlehem, Pa. Seeding for the tournament will be announced early in the week. The Mids will play a quarterfinal round match against an opponent to be determined on Friday. The semifinal round matches will be held on Saturday and the championship match will follow on Sunday.

"This team has a lot of pride in it, and we enter the league tournament looking to win the title the fifth straight year," said Officer. "But we need to have a good week of practice to do so. We also have to scrap more out there. We are getting that from some of the guys and in certain situations from others, but it needs to be a more complete effort. We have no margin for error in any match or at any flight."

Army (11-10 / 6-0) def. Navy (16-10 / 3-2), 4-3
Doubles (1-3-2) -- Army wins the doubles point
1 - Nick Birger / Owen Bullard (Navy) def. Tripp Johnson / Donald Van Velzer, 8-5
2 - Alex Holland / Gary Kushnirovich (Army) def. Mike Eisenberg / Nicholas Gutsche, 8-5
3 - Asika Isoh / Henry Jang-Milsten (Army) def. Marcus Rebersak / Jeremy New, 8-6
Singles (3-2-1-4-6-5)
1 - Owen Bullard (Navy) def. Asika Isoh, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
2 - Gary Kushnirovich (Army) def. Marcus Rebersak, 6-3, 6-4
3 - Jeremy New (Navy) def. Donald Van Velzer, 6-2, 6-0
4 - Tripp Johnson (Army) def. Heyward Drayton, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
5 - Alex Holland (Army) def. Nicholas Gutsche, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6 - Nick Birger (Navy) def. Henry Jang-Milsten 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)