Navy Sports

GreatAmerican
Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:52:00 +0000

Navy def. Army, 4-0
Final of the Patriot League Tournament

For Immediate Release
Sent Sunday, April 27, 2008
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772

Navy Tennis Team Claims Second-Straight Patriot League Crown

HAMILTON, N.Y. - The Navy tennis team won its second Patriot League title in as many years with a 4-0 victory over Army in the championship match of the league tournament, Sunday afternoon at the Abrahamson Tennis Courts in Hamilton, N.Y. The Mids also recorded a 4-0 victory over the Black Knights in the final of the 2007 league tournament.

“We played well at the right times,” said Navy head coach John Officer, who tied the Patriot League record for the most league titles won by a head coach in men’s tennis with five. “It is always a battle whenever we play Army, and this one was much closer than the final score appears to be. There were a lot of heroes for us today.”

One of the keys to Navy’s run to back-to-back Patriot League crowns has been the play of its doubles teams. Dating back to the start of the 2007 season, the Mids have now won the doubles point in 13 consecutive regular and postseason matches against league opponents. The Mids quickly won the first doubles match to be completed when Alex James (Sr., Visalia, Calif.) and Ramsey Lemaich (So., Danville, Calif.) posted an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Chris Albornoz and Sean Harris. Navy earned the doubles point a short while later when the duo of Nick Birger (Fr., Belleville, Ill.) and Jason Hill (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) recorded an 8-5 win over Jordan Girdley and Tripp Johnson at No. 3 doubles.

In the unfinished doubles match, Army’s Eddie Kang and Phil Muhawi held a 5-4 lead over Nate Nelms (Jr., St. Mary’s, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (Jr., Papillion, Neb.).

“As it has been all year, our doubles play was very strong,” said Officer. “The importance of getting that first point on the board cannot be underestimated.”

The Mids took a 2-0 lead when James recorded a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Johnson at No. 5 singles. The lead soon was increased to 3-0 as Hill posted a 6-2, 7-5 win over Harris at No. 3 singles. This was a marked turnaround from last week when Harris posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Hill during the Star Match between the teams.

Navy’s final point of the 2007 championship match was recorded by then-freshman Lemaich. The title-clinching point Sunday was tallied by freshman Owen Bullard (Concord, N.C.) when he closed out Jordan Girdley, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 6 singles.

Nelms was involved in one of the three matches that were not completed due to Navy having already accrued the necessary four points to win the match. After dropping the first set of his No. 1 singles match to Muhawi (6-1), Nelms won the second set (6-4) and held a 4-1 lead in the third set when play was ended. Army was ahead in the remaining two matches that were stopped. Kang held a 6-3, 5-2 lead over Waters at No. 2 singles and Albornoz held a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-1 advantage over Lemaich at No. 4 singles.

“This team has been great all year about working hard in practice, in the weight room and in maintaining their fitness,” said Officer. “They had a good time, too, but they really understood when it was time for fun and when it was time for work.”

Afterwards, James, Navy’s team captain who finished the tournament with a combined record of 4-0 in his singles and doubles matches, was tabbed as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“Alex was unheralded as a recruit when he first came to Navy,” said Officer. “Through a lot of hard work he has turned into a tremendous player for us. He didn’t drop a set in singles this weekend and, along with Ramsey, lost only four games in winning their doubles matches, so he was a worthy choice for MVP.”

The victory is Navy’s 20th in 28 matches this season. It has been 23 years since a Navy team last recorded 20 wins during the course of a season (1985, 21).

The Mids, who have now won six league titles as members of the Patriot League (all over the last 13 years), will find out their NCAA Tournament fortunes Tuesday afternoon when the pairings are announced. The title is also the 11th won by a Navy team during the 2007-08 season and the third captured by a Navy squad on Sunday. The win also secures the 2007-08 Army-Navy series for the Mids. Navy holds a 17-13 lead over Army with only the possibility of best two-out-of-three baseball series remaining.

“We are excited to be heading back to the NCAA Tournament,” said Officer. “This was an important title for us to win. We feel we have a good thing going and wanted to keep building upon last year’s success. We know we will have a tough task ahead of ourselves whomever we face in the NCAA Tournament, but we are looking forward to the competition and the opportunity to represent the Naval Academy and the Patriot League to the best of our abilities.”

Navy (20-8) def. Army (16-8), 4-0
Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (match finish order: 2-3)

1. Kang / Muhawi (A) led Nelms / Waters, 5-4, unfinished

2. James / Lemaich (N) def. Albornoz / Harris, 8-2

3. Nick Birger / Hill (N) def. Girdley / Johnson, 8-5
Singles (match finish order: 5-3-6)

4. Nate Nelms (N) led Phil Muhawi, 1-6, 6-4, 4-1, unfinished

5. Eddie Kang (A) led Johnny Waters, 6-3, 5-2, unfinished

6. Jason Hill (N) def. Sean Harris, 6-2, 7-5

7. Chris Albornoz (A) led Ramsey Lemaich, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-1, unfinished

8. Alex James (N) def. Tripp Johnson, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)

9. Owen Bullard (N) def. Jordan Girdley, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)