Nov. 4, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. -- The fall tennis schedule finished up with Navy's Nick Birger and Army's Annie Houghton winning the Patriot League's Player of the Month awards for October.

The Patriot League tennis teams will be idle until 2010, when most team begin their spring schedule in February.

Complete Release in PDF Format

Male Tennis Player of the Month

Nick Birger, Navy  Jr., Belleville, Ohio/Belleville Twp.  Birger went 5-1 last month in singles and 1-3 in doubles for the Midshipmen. He went 2-0 at the Navy Gold Invitational on Oct. 9-11 and 3-1 at the Cornell Fall Invitational on Oct. 30-Nov. 1. 

Female Tennis Player of the Month

Annie Houghton, Army  Jr., Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley  Houghton went 3-2 in singles and 3-2 in doubles last month. She went 2-1 at the National Tennis Center Invitational, competing in the semifinals. Houghton was Army's highest seed in school history at the ITA Northeast Regionals. As the 14th seed, she went 1-1, winning in the first round, but falling in the second round. Teamed with Kristin Beehler, Houghton won two doubles matches at the ITA Regionals before falling in the quarterfinals. She's 8-3 on the season in singles competition and 3-5 in doubles.

Team Notebooks

Army The Black Knights completed their fall season with the women competing in four tournaments in October to include invitationals at Lehigh and Brown, along with the prestigious National Tennis Center Invite in Flushing, N.Y., and the ITA Northeast Regionals hosted by Yale. Annie Houghton, Erin Colton, Jessica Ahn and Kristin Beehler all qualified for the main draw at the ITA Regionals. Army will return to action at the Cornell Winter Invite (Jan. 29-31). Jessica Ahn and Annie Hang tied for a team-high nine singles wins during the fall season, while Annie Houghton tallied eight. Michael Tollerton and Robie Verano partnered-up for the team's top doubles mark with eight wins. The men's team competed at the unscored Yale Invite, ITA Regionals and Cornell Invitational.

Bucknell The Bison completed the fall season with the Bucknell Invitational and the ITA Regionals in October. The Bucknell men will return to the courts with a match at Penn at 3 p.m. Jan. 23. The women will compete at Penn State on Jan. 23.

Colgate The Raiders competed in two unscored events in October -- at Bucknell Invitational and the ITA Regionals. The men's team will compete again at Brown on Feb 6, while the women will return to action at Cornell on Feb. 9.

Holy Cross The Crusaders men's team went 0-2 and the women's team went 1-0 last month. The men's team lost 7-0 to Massachusetts on Oct. 1 and 4-2 to Merrimack on Oct. 10. The men also competed at the Stonehill Invitational. The women defeated Merrimack 5-2 on Oct. 10. The women also competed at the Salve Regina Doubles Invitational and New England Championship. The Crusaders will return to the courts in the spring. 

Lafayette The Leopards men's team was idle last month, while the women competed in their only event of the fall, defeating Wagner 7-0 on Oct. 25. The men will return to the court in the spring with a match at Boston College on Feb. 6. The women will compete at home against St. Joseph's at 3 p.m. on Feb. 20.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks competed in the Lehigh Fall Invitational and the Lehigh Fall Tennis Classic last month. The Lehigh men and women will compete again in the spring.

Navy The Midshipmen competed in unscored tournaments last month, with the men competing in four invites and the women in two. Nick Birger led the men's team, going 5-1 in singles competition and 1-3 in doubles matches. Navy will return to the courts with home matches against Saint Francis (Pa.), with the men starting at 9 a.m. and the women at noon Jan. 30.