Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Eight days after dropping the annual Army-Navy Star Match, the Mids posted a 4-1 victory over the Black Knights Sunday afternoon in the championship match of the Patriot League Men's Tennis Tournament on Bucknell's Varsity Courts in Lewisburg, Pa.

The Mids (20-10) lost a 4-0 decision to the Black Knights (18-9) April 11 at West Point. Last week's decision left the Mids with the No. 2 seed in the tournament while the Black Knights entered the championship as the No. 1 seed.

"It was an emotional match for both teams," said Navy head coach Chris Garner, who led the Mids to the league crown in his first season on The Yard. "It was a testament to the team (to be able to come back from last week's loss). It wasn't any one guy who made the difference in the results. We want to try and improve and get better each and every week. If we do that, then we can come back from defeats such as we had last week.

"It was a great win for the team and a solid `team' win. Even more so, to have the seniors go out like this is exciting. They did a great job leading our team this year and I look forward to watching them as they move into the next phase of their life and what they will mean to the Navy thereafter.

By virtue of today's victory, Navy garners the Patriot League's automatic berth into the 2015 NCAA Tournament. It will be Navy's first NCAA Tournament appearance in three years and the program's seventh since the league champion began receiving an automatic berth into the event in 1999. Those seven appearances are the most of any team in the league.

After the Black Knights won the initial doubles match to be completed -- an 8-5 win at the No. 3 flight by Kyle Barnes and Austin McCassin over Andrey Majkic (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) and Tucker Massie (Fr., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) -- Navy won the remaining two matches to earn the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead.

Blake Daniel (Sr., Overland Park, Kan.) and Calvin Mark (Sr., Union City, Calif.) first combined for an 8-5 win over Harrison McCormick and Grant Riechman at No. 2 doubles. Then Navy's No. 1 tandem of Thomas Pecor (So., Houston, Texas) and Austin Jones (Jr., Dallas, Texas) posted an 8-4 win over Sam Lampman and Alex Van Velzer.

"Our guys came up big to get the doubles point," said Garner.

Mark quickly stretched Navy's lead to 2-0 when he defeated Lampman, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1 singles. Barnes just as quickly sliced the margin in half when he tallied a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Aries Wong (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) at No. 6 singles.

Jones provided the Mids with a 3-1 cushion when he posted a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Van Velzer at No. 2 singles. Pecor would notch the championship point for the Mids when he completed a 7-6 (7-0), 6-1 win over Caison Best at the No. 4 flight.

"Cal won in straight sets," said Garner, "and Austin was down early in the third set but just battled his way back. Aries hung around in his match, and both Blake and Walker Sims (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) were in tough matches. Thomas won the first set of his match and just kept coming in the second."

Jones, who won a pair of both doubles and singles matches this weekend and held leads in his remaining singles and doubles matches that were halted, was tabbed as the MVP of the Patriot League Tournament.

"Cal and Blake were in close doubles matches Saturday and Sunday that could have gone either way," said Garner. "They just waited for their opportunity to pull ahead. Thomas and Austin were really tough both days in doubles. Austin being named as the MVP speaks for itself as to how he played this entire weekend. Additionally, Cal and Blake really came to play, and Thomas had a great weekend, too. He really was `all in' during his matches."

The first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be held May 8-9. The tournament bracket will be announced at 5:30 p.m. on Tues., April 28, via NCAA.com.

No. 2 Navy (20-10) def. No. 1 Army (18-9), 4-1
Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point (3-2-1)
1. Thomas Pecor / Austin Jones (N) def. Sam Lampman / Alex Van Velzer (A), 8-4
2. Blake Daniel / Calvin Mark (N) def. Harrison McCormick / Grant Riechman (A), 8-5
3. Kyle Barnes / Austin McCasin (A) def. Andrey Majkic / Tucker Massie (N), 8-5
Singles (1-6-2-4)
1. Calvin Mark (N) def. Sam Lampman (A), 6-1, 6-3
2. Austin Jones (N) def. Alex Van Velzer (A), 6-4, 6-1
3. Grant Riechman (A) led Blake Daniel (N), 7-6 (3), 6-5 - DNF
4. Thomas Pecor (N) def. Caison Best (A), 7-6 (0), 6-1
5. Harrison McCormick (A) led Walker Sims (N), 6-2, 6-6 (6-4) - DNF
6. Kyle Barnes (A) def. Aries Wong (N), 6-3, 7-6 (4)

Patriot League Tournament Schedule & Results
First Round - Thursday, April 16
No. 8 Lafayette def. No. 9 Holy Cross, 4-0
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 17
No. 1 Army def. No. 8 Lafayette, 4-0
No. 5 Bucknell def. No. 4 Colgate, 4-0
No. 3 Boston def. No. 6 Lehigh, 4-3
No. 2 Navy def. No. 7 Loyola, 4-0
Semifinals - Saturday, April 18
11 a.m. -- No. 1 Army def. No. 5 Bucknell, 4-2
2 p.m. - No. 2 Navy def. No. 3 Boston, 4-1
Final - Sunday, April 19
Noon - No. 2 Navy def. No. 1 Army, 4-1