Oct. 21, 2009

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The newly-reconfigured Intercollegiate Tennis Association will hold its various regional championship events this weekend, with the Navy men's team travelling to Norfolk, Va., to take part in the Atlantic Regional meet. The Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the Old Dominion campus will serve as the host site for the meet that begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.

At the conclusion of the 2009 spring season, the ITA reconfigured its member schools into 12 different regions across the country. The ITA previously consisted of eight regions. The Atlantic Region is comprised of teams located in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Washington, D.C.

"We are excited to be joining the Atlantic Region," said Navy head coach John Officer. "Our region includes such tennis powerhouses as Virginia, VCU, Old Dominion, William and Mary and Virginia Tech. We feel competing at this level will only help our program."

A total of 128 singles players and 64 doubles teams will compete at the championship. This weekend's regional field includes 12 nationally-ranked singles players and two nationally-ranked doubles teams.

First to compete for the Mids in singles Thursday will be Marcus Rebersak (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.), who will play Juan Ortiz from Morgan State at 9 a.m. He will be followed on the courts later in the day by teammates Eddie Konrad (So., The Woodlands, Texas) and Anderson Walls (Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.). Konrad will play Siim Tuus from Liberty at 12 Noon, while Walls will face Matt Prusacky from St. Joseph's at 12:30 p.m. Owen Bullard (Jr., Concord, N.C.), meanwhile, received a bye on Thursday so his first match will come Friday at 9 a.m. against the winner of the Billy Heird (Longwood) vs. Ben Wirth (Liberty) match.

In doubles for Navy, the tandem of Bullard and Konrad will play the winner of the Tripmir Kujundvic / Jon Pine (Virginia Tech) vs. Yakov Diskin / Kris Muzalweski (Old Dominion) match Thursday at 5 p.m. An estimated one-hour later, Rebersak and Walls will play Thibaut Charron and Krisztian Kroscko from Virginia Commonwealth.