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ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" The Navy men's tennis ran improved its record to 10-6 on the season by recording a pair of victories Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center. The Mids, who have won eight of their last nine matches, posted a 6-1 win over Morgan State and a 5-2 victory over Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

Navy quickly earned the doubles point against Morgan State (2-7) by dropping a combined six games in winning each of the three matches. Navy then won the first set in four of the six singles matches, with one of them coming in a tiebreaker.

Austin Jones (Sr., Dallas, Texas) gave the Mids a 2-0 lead when he defeated Treajh Ferguson by the score of 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Walker Sims (So., Memphis, Tenn.) also won a straight-set decision for Navy as he posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over Felix Andre at the No. 3 flight. Tucker Massie (So., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) clinched the overall match for the Mids with his 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles over Lucas Krusinski.

Thomas Pecor (Jr., Houston, Texas), playing in his first singles match of the spring after being injured to this point, bounced back after dropping the first set of his No. 2 singles match against Jeremy Field to win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. The Bears tallied their lone point of the contest when Evan Ward held off Andrey Majkic (So., Jacksonville, Fla.), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, at their No. 4 singles match. Play would come to a close with the conclusion of the No. 5 singles match where Navy's Joshua Martin (So., Foley, Ala.) defeated Morgan State's Arjun Ramakrishnan, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

The match between the Mids and the Cougars (4-8) was a challenging one that began with the visitors earning the doubles point. The squads split the first two doubles matches to be completed, with SIUE notching the point when its No. 3 tandem of Nico Kuehn and Dan Lineberry posted a 6-3 win over Andrew Hicks (Fr., Haddon Heights, N.J.) and Cameron Kirkpatrick (Fr., Menlo Park, Calif.).

Not only had Navy won the doubles point in each of its last eight matches, it also had not won an overall match this season in which it had lost the doubles point (0-5).

The Mids regrouped and posted first-set wins in five of the six singles flights and went on to win each of those matches to rally for the victory.

"It was a real positive part of today's match," said Navy head coach Chris Garner, on the Mids winning the dual after having lost the doubles point. "The guys were able to bounce back from their doubles deficit and gain the momentum back. That was another positive out of this match."

Jones, who won each of his four matches on the day, again placed Navy's first singles point on the scoreboard when he posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Tristan Houle at No. 1 singles. Krishna Jana (Jr., Seabrook, Texas) made the score 2-1 in favor of the home team with his 6-0, 6-4 win over Matthew Hutchison at No. 2 singles. Massie, who matched Jones with four points on the day, gave Navy a 3-1 cushion when he dispatched Kuehn by the score of 6-4, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. Sims then secured the overall victory for the Mids with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Lineberry at No. 3 singles.

Navy's final point of the match came when Martin won a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) decision over Jack Desse at No. 5 singles, then SIUE received its second point on Patrick Gaffigan's 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Majkic at the No. 4 flight.

"Walker, Josh and Tucker," said Garner, "they had some tough matches last weekend against Richmond (a 4-3 loss by the Mids). They bounced back very strong this weekend, accumulating a number of points in both matches. That was great to see; it was great to see them winning and also playing with confidence and competing hard, especially after last week's disappointment that they felt against Richmond.

"Any time you win a close match, whether you are playing well or not playing as well as you would like, you are going to gain confidence. The important part is the guys, whether they win or lose, they are trying to set a standard for themselves as to the type of competitor they are, the type of player they want to be under pressure, and I think if they can do that, when the pressure arises they are only going to improve in those aspects."

Jones has played No. 1 singles for the Mids in each of the matches this season when he has been in the lineup, and also has played all but one of his doubles matches at the No. 1 flight. The team captain has posted records of 8-3 in singles and 7-3 in doubles this year, his first at playing at the top of the lineup.

"Calvin Mark, who played No. 1 last year, taught me few things," said Jones. "I'm just trying to stay positive and work as hard if not harder than everyone in practice to try and lead from the front."

Navy will close out its homestand by playing host to St. Francis Brooklyn March 12 at 6 p.m.

Navy (9-6) def. Morgan State (2-7), 6-1
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles points (3-2-1)
1. Jones, Austin / Pecor, Thomas (NAVY) def. Andre, Felix / Ferguson, Treajh (MSUM) 6-2
2. Jana, Krishna / Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. Field, Jeremy / Ramakrishnan, Arjun (MSUM) 6-3
3. Hicks, Andrew / Kirkpatrick, Cameron (NAVY) def. Krusinski, Lucas / Ward, Evan (MSUM) 6-1
Singles (1-3-6-2-4-5)
1. Jones, Austin (NAVY) def. Ferguson, Treajh (MSUM) 6-2, 6-0
2. Pecor, Thomas (NAVY) def. Field, Jeremy (MSUM) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Sims, Walker (NAVY) def. Andre, Felix (MSUM) 6-3, 6-2
4. Ward, Evan (MSUM) def. Majkic, Andrey (NAVY) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
5. Martin, Joshua (NAVY) def. Ramakrishnan, Arjun (MSUM) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
6. Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. Krusinski, Lucas (MSUM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

Navy (10-6) def. SIUE (4-8), 5-2
Doubles -- SIUE wins the doubles point (1-2-3)
1. Jones, Austin / Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. Desse, Jack / Hutchinson, Matthew (SIUE) 6-1
2. Gaffigan, Patrick / Houle, Tristan (SIUE) def. Majkic, Andrey / Martin, Joshua (NAVY) 6-2
3. Kuehn, Nico / Lineberry, Dan (SIUE) def. Hicks, Andrew / Kirkpatrick, Cameron (NAVY) 6-3
Singles (1-2-6-3-5-4)
1. Jones, Austin (NAVY) def. Houle, Tristan (SIUE) 6-2, 6-2
2. Jana, Krishna (NAVY) def. Hutchinson, Matthew (SIUE) 6-0, 6-4
3. Sims, Walker (NAVY) def. Lineberry, Dan (SIUE) 6-4, 6-3
4. Gaffigan, Patrick (SIUE) def. Majkic, Andrey (NAVY) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
5. Martin, Joshua (NAVY) def. Desse, Jack (SIUE) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. Kuehn, Nico (SIUE) 6-4, 6-3