April 11, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The season-ending four-match homestand for the Navy tennis team continues this weekend when the Midshipmen play host to Lehigh on Saturday and George Washington on Sunday. Both matches are slated to begin at 12 Noon and, weather permitting, will be played outdoors at the Academy. If the matches have to be instead be played indoors, they will be moved to the Tose Family Tennis Center.

"We are looking forward to the matches this weekend," said Navy head coach John Officer. "Our match Saturday against Lehigh is an opportunity for us to remain unbeaten in the Patriot League. George Washington finished second in the recent Atlantic Ten tournament and will be a formidable opponent on Sunday."

Navy is looking to bounce back from a disappointing performance Tuesday afternoon when the Mids dropped a 4-3 decision to UMBC. After losing the doubles point to the Retrievers, Navy players won the first set in all six singles flights but collectively the Mids could only manage to win half of those matches. The loss dropped Navy's record on the year to 15-8 and snapped a three-match winning streak for the Mids.

Lehigh has posted a 5-10 record on the season and a loss to Bucknell Thursday dropped its Patriot League record to 1-3 on the year.

Navy posted a 7-0 victory over Lehigh when the two teams met last year, but the individual matches were much closer than the overall team score indicates. The Mids won two of the three doubles matches to claim the doubles point, but the deciding No. 1 doubles match was determined in a tiebreaker. Nate Nelms (Jr., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (Jr., Papillion, Neb.) tallied a 9-8 (7-4) victory over Lehigh's tandem of Alfredo Fernandez-Concha and Brad Nelson to secure the doubles point for the Mids. Three of the singles matches also were fairly close, with Nelms posting a 6-4, 6-4 win over Fernandez-Concha at No. 1, Waters recording a 6-4, 6-4 victory over John Nespoli at No. 2 and Stanley Kahl emerging with a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Brent Herbert at No. 3.

Both Nespoli and Herbert return for Lehigh this season, as do Nelms and Waters for Navy.

Navy also had a close match with George Washington a year ago. Navy won all three doubles matches to win the doubles point, then picked up singles victories at the No. 4-5-6 flights to come away with a 4-3 victory. Keying the victory for Navy were Alex James (Sr., Visalia, Calif.) and Ramsey Lemaich (So., Danville, Calif.). After combining to post an 8-0 victory at No. 3 doubles, James won a 6-3, 6-4 decision at No. 5 singles and Lemaich tallied a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 6 singles.

Among the returning players for George Washington are Mustafa Gencsoy, who defeated Nelms at No. 1 singles last year, and Sam Salyer, who topped Waters in three sets at No. 2 singles last season.

The Colonials, who will be playing their final match of the season Sunday, were the top-seeded team in the recent Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament but lost in the final to Xavier. George Washington enters the contest with a 14-10 record on the year.

Following this weekend's matches, Navy will conclude its regular season April 19 when the Mids play host to Army in the annual Star Match.