Sept. 17, 2005

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy tennis team claimed six-of-eight singles matches and three-of-four doubles matches on the second day of the Navy Invitational.

"I'm very proud of the way we played today," said Navy head coach John Officer. "In yesterday's doubles play, we were excellent, then we had a pretty big lapse in singles play. Today, we had no let-ups and fought very hard. We won every match we were in today."

The Mids got off to a strong start in doubles play as a pair of freshman, Jason Hill (Atlanta, Ga.) and Johnny Waters (Papillion, Neb.), won at No. 1 doubles. The Mids' pairing of Adrian Lai (Tucson, Ariz.) and Stanley Kahl (Richland, Pa.) won at No. 3 doubles as well.

In singles play, Navy won matches at No. 1, 2, 5 and 6. Freshman Nate Nelms (St. Mary's, Ga.) won his match at No. 1 singles in straight sets, as did fellow classmate Jason Hill at No. 2 singles.

"Jason Hill played very well today, winning 7-5, 6-0," said Officer. "He is really proving that he belongs to play at No. 2 singles."

Officer also got victories from Brandon Carter (West Chester, Pa.) at No. 5 singles and Lai at No. 6.

SINGLES MATCHES:
1. Nate Nelms (Navy) def. Doug Banker, 6-3, 6-4
2. Jason Hill (Navy) def. Sami Belakhlef, 7-5, 6-0
3. Bobby McNally (UR) def. Stanley Kahl, 6-2, 6-1
4. Matt Stillwagon (UR) def. Johnny Waters, 6-2, 6-2
5. Brandon Carter (Navy) def. Chris Louis, 6-0, 6-4
6. Adrian Lai (Navy) def. Michael Sommer, 6-7, 6-2, 10-7
7. Alex James (Navy) def. Brett Weikart, 8-5
8. Kyle Jones (Navy) def. Dave Berry, 8-3

DOUBLES MATCHES:
1. Hill / Waters (Navy) def. Belakhlef / Banker, 8-4
2. Stillwagon / McNally (UR) def. Carter / Nelms, 8-5
3. Kahl / Lai (Navy) def. Waikart / Berry, 8-5
4. James / Nathan Malnati (Navy) def. Louis / Sommer, 8-4

# GO NAVY #