Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Navy
Holland Leads Men's Tennis To Win Over Navy
April 09, 2011 | Men's Tennis
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army men's tennis defeated rival Navy, 4-3, for the second straight season to clinch the 2011 Patriot League regular-season title and the tournament's top seed. Sophomore Alex Holland sealed the win for the Black Knights with his victory at No. 5 singles.
The win marks the first time Army has won back-to-back Star Matches since 2004-2005. Navy maintains the all-time lead, however, 56-32.
The Black Knights (11-10, 6-0 PL) pulled ahead 1-0 after winning the doubles point. Army's freshman duo Henry Jang-Milsten and Asika Isoh defeated Marcus Rebersak and Jeremy New, 8-3, at the No. 3 slot for the pair's team-best seventh win of the spring.
Holland teamed with classmate Gary Kushnirovic to seal the doubles point, defeating Mike Eisenberg and Nick Gutsche, 8-5, at No. 2.
The Midshipmen (16-10, 3-2 PL) evened the score at 1-1 after New swept Van Velzer, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 singles.
Kushnirovic put the lead back in Army's hands after knocking off Rebersak, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 2 spot. The sophomore improved to 7-1 on the season and is riding a five-match win streak into Monday's regular-season finale.
Once again Navy would answer as Owen Bullard would battle back after losing the first set to defeat Isoh, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1.
With the score tied 2-2, the lone senior on Army's roster, Tripp Johnson, did his part to bring home the Star by defeating Hewyard Drayton, 6-2, 7-6(7-2), at the No. 4 spot. The win was Johnson's 10th in the past 11 matches, improving his record this spring to 13-9.
The Mids knotted the score at 3-3 when Nick Birger defeated Jang-Milsten, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 6.
The match came down to the No. 5 singles showdown which pitted Army's Alex Holland against Navy's Nick Gutsche. Holland entered the match winning seven of his last nine singles contests, having never faced a Midshipman in singles play.
Gutsche prevailed in the first set, 2-6, before Holland answered in the second, 6-3. With both teams gathered around the court and spectators leaning on every railing, Holland fell behind 2-1 in the third set.
The Black Knights suddenly caught momentum as the Spartanburg, S.C., native dubbed "Big Country" by his teammates, soared back to go ahead 4-2. The pair exchanged games three more times before Gutsche's final shot sailed past the end line to conclude the third set in favor of Holland, 6-4.
"Army-Navy is probably the biggest match of the regular season, by far," said Holland. "Winning against Navy just feels unbelievable, especially to clinch it like that. I was pretty nervous. I didn't play well the first set at all, and then I started working my way into the match in the second set, starting attacking better. Then I got down in the third but it didn't bother me because I knew I was playing really good tennis. In my mind, it was just a matter of time before I would really take over."
The Black Knights conclude Patriot League regular-season play with a perfect 6-0 record, marking the first time since 2001 Army went without dropping a conference match. With the regular-season title, Army clinches the No. 1 seed in next weekend's Patriot League Championship for the second straight year and 10th time overall. Of the ten years Army earned the top seed, the Black Knights also won the Star Match in seven of those years as well.
"Navy is a great win and I'm sure we'll see them again," said Army head coach Jim Poling. "We still have some things to work on which I noticed today, but we're really happy with this win. I'm proud of our guys. It feels great."
Before the Black Knights travel to Bethlehem, Pa., next weekend for the Patriot League Championship, they will conclude their regular season by hosting Marist on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
Army - 4
Navy - 3
Doubles
1. Bullard/Birger (Navy) def. Johnson/Van Velzer, 8-5
2. Kushnirovic/Holland (Army) def. Eisenberg/Gutsche, 8-5
3. Isoh/Jang-Milsten (Army) def. Rebersak/New, 8-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Owen Bullard (Navy) def. Asika Isoh, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Gary Kushnirovic (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. Nick Gutsche, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Nick Birger (Navy) def. Henry Jang-Milsten 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 4, 6, 5
Players Mentioned
