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Feb. 27, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy tennis team will take to the road this week for a pair of challenging matches against North Carolina State and Clemson. The Mids will play at Clemson, currently ranked 42nd in the country, Friday at 11 a.m., then will face No. 30 North Carolina State Saturday at 9 a.m.

"We face two very good teams this weekend," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We challenge ourselves with this level of competition to be prepared for our league season. We will need to move well on the court to be able to control rallies."

The Tigers have been ranked as high as 30th in the country this season and have already recorded a trio of victories against teams who currently hold a national ranking. Clemson has posted an 8-5 record this season, with all five of its losses coming to nationally-ranked programs. Individually for the Tigers, Rok Bizjak holds singles rankings of No. 12 in the Mideast Region and 99th nationally.

The Wolfpack began the season ranked 20th in the country and have compiled a 5-3 record this year. Two of their wins and all of their losses have been against nationally-ranked programs. Jay Weinacker and Nick Cavaday hold Mideast Region singles rankings of 23rd and 25th, respectively, with the duo also forming the ninth-ranked doubles team in the country.

Navy has previously played No. 49 East Tennessee State and No. 75 Maryland this season. The Mids lost to the Bucs by the score of 3-0 and dropped a 7-0 decision to the Terrapins.

Navy saw its four-match winning streak come to an end this past Sunday when the Mids lost a 5-2 decision to Yale. After winning the doubles point from the Bulldogs, Navy's Owen Bullard (Fr., Concord, N.C.) recorded a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles to provide the Mids with their second point of the day. Navy came close to picking up an additional point as Alex James (Sr., Visalia, Calif.) went three sets in his No. 5 singles match against Calvin Bennett. Jason Hill (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) also had a strong effort on the day for Navy, losing a 6-4, 6-3 decision at No. 4 singles.