Oct. 15, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Members of the Navy tennis team will travel to New Haven Conn., this week to take part in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Northeast Regional Championship. The six-day tournament being held at Yale's Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center begins Thursday morning.

The field for the tournament consists of players from teams located through the region, such as Georgetown, Boston College, St. John's, George Washington, as well as Patriot League and Ivy League-member institutions. The main draw will include 128 singles players and 64 doubles teams.

Both finalists in singles and the championship-winning doubles team from each of the ITA Regional Tournaments will advance to the National Intercollegiate Indoor Championship that will be played Nov. 6-9 at Virginia.

"The regional is the premier individual tournament of the fall," said Navy head coach John Officer. "We have been fortunate in the past to have won this prestigious event in singles and reached the semifinals in doubles. We look forward to the event."

Johnny Waters (Sr., Papillion, Neb.) will be the first Mid to take to the court at the tournament when he faces Justen Roth of Penn in a qualifying match Thursday morning. The winner of that match will then face the winner of the Joel Samaha (Yale) vs. Akash Muppidi (Boston College) contest. Whomever emerges from that match will advance to the tournament's main draw that begins Friday.

Already placed among the main draw are Navy's Nate Nelms (Sr., St. Mary's, Ga.) and Jason Hill (Sr., Marietta, Ga.). Nelms, who is seeded among the Nos. 17-32 players in the field for the second straight year, has a first round bye, while Hill will play Friday against a player who advances out of the qualifying draw.

Waters also competed in the qualifying portion of the tournament last year, winning his opening round match before losing a three-set decision in the second round. Hill won a pair of qualifying matches and one main draw match at the 2007 tournament, while Nelms has won one main draw match in both 2006 and `07.

Navy's doubles team of Nelms and Waters will open the tournament Friday against UMBC's Fredi Voorman and Nick Savage-Pollock. The Navy duo lost its opening round match at the 2007 tournament, but the `06 championship saw Nelms team with Hill to win a pair of matches.