Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's tennis team (13-3) defeated Radford (1-4), 6-1, Monday evening at the Tose Family Tennis Center.

"It was a total team effort tonight and was happy to get the victory," Navy head coach Chris Garner said. "Every player rallied around one another to get the result we were looking for."

Navy opened up the match by sweeping all three doubles matches to earn the first point of the match.

Senior teammates Blake Daniel (Overland Park, Kan.) and Calvin Mark (Union City, Calif.) started off the match with a strong 8-3 win in the No. 1 doubles over Radford's Patrick O'Keefe and Samuel Taylor. Sophomore Thomas Pecor (Houston, Texas) and freshman Aries Wong (Bethesda, Md.) followed up with a convincing win in the No. 2 doubles match with an 8-4 mark over Michael Meekers and Nikhil Mannepalli. Sophomore Krishna Jana (Seabrook, Texas) and freshman Walker Sims (Memphis, Tenn.) capped the doubles round with an 8-7 win over Janken Thoen and Jose Moreno Manzano.

Navy then took its momentum into the singles matches and grabbed the next three points in sweeping fashion to clinch the match.

Wong began the singles round with a 6-2, 6-2 win in No. 5 then was followed up by teammate Jana's 6-1, 6-4 win in No. 6. Pecor capped off the Navy win in the No. 3 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Radford's Mannepalli.

After Navy's underclassmen took care of business in the first four singles, seniors Mark and Daniel each had to battle through three sets to wrap up the match. Falling 6-3 in the first set at No. 1, Mark fought in the second set for a 6-3 win to push the match to a third and final set against the Highlanders' O'Keefe. O'Keefe however took down Mark, 6-2, to earn Radford its lone point.

With the match in hand, 5-1, Navy's Daniel went head-to-head with Meekers for the final point in the No. 2 singles. Meekers grabbed the first set, 6-4, for the early advantage. Daniel however won the final two sets, 6-3, 13-11 to tally Navy's sixth and final point to extend its winning streak to three.

"Even though we had already clinched the match in the doubles and three-straight singles matches, it was great to see the team camaraderie with our players cheer on the final three matches," said Garner.

Navy will look ahead to its first of five matches in California as it faces off against San Francisco in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Sunday, March 15.

Navy 6, Radford 1

Order of finish

Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Singles: 5, 6, 3, 4, 1, 2

Doubles:

1. Blake Daniel/ Calvin Mark def. Patrick Okeefe/ Samuel Taylor, 8-3

2. Thomas Pecor/ Aries Wong def. Michael Meekers/ Nikhil Mannepelli, 8-4

3. Krishna Jana/ Walker Sims def. Janken Thoen/ Jose Moreno Manzano, 8-7 (2)

Singles:

1. Patrick O'Keefe def. Calvin Mark, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

2. Blake Daniel def. Michael Meekers, 4-6, 6-3, 13-11

3. Thomas Pecor def. Nikhil Mannepellis, 6-3, 6-2

4. Walker Sims def. Jose Moreno Manzano, 6-2, 7-5

5. Aries Wong def. Janken Thoen, 6-2, 6-2

6. Krishna Jana def. Samuel Taylor, 6-1, 6-4