April 20, 2016 Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy men's tennis team (19-8, 4-0 PL) grabbed a 5-2 victory over Loyola (12-9, 0-4 PL) on Wednesday at the USNA Tennis Courts in Annapolis to remain undefeated in Patriot League play.
The day started with Loyola grabbing the doubles point by winning matches at Nos. 1 and 3. The No. 2 doubles pairing of Aries Wong (So., Bethesda, Md.) and Walker Sims (So., Memphis, Tenn.) gave Navy the early advantage with a 6-1 win over Tyler Blessing and Greg Olesnycky before the Greyhounds took two straight doubles matches to clinch the doubles point.
"Loyola played a great doubles point," remarked Navy head coach Chris Garner. "The guys responded well coming back in singles play."
The Mids would go on to take five straight matches in singles, four of which were won in straight sets. Alex Gaines (Sr., Wilmington, N.C.) gave Navy its first win of the day at No. 6 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over C.J. Cash. Sims posted the only 6-0 set of the day, defeating Blessing, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 2 singles.
Krishna Jana (Jr., Seabrook, Texas) won a close first set over Reid Burch at No. 3 singles at 7-5 before closing out the match at 6-1 in the second set. Thomas Pecor (Jr., Houston, Texas) took No. 1 singles at 6-2, 6-2 over Jordan Kuchta to clinch the team win for the Mids.
"Alex Gaines was also able to pull the match back even with some excellent play," said Garner. "Krishna Jana was able to pull out a hard fought first set and proceeded to win in straight sets."
Navy's fifth singles win came at the No. 5 position, where Joshua Martin (So., Foley, Ala.) defeated Blest Jones, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
The Mids will next host Army West Point on Saturday in the Star Match at 1:00 PM at the USNA Tennis Courts. Both teams enter the Star Match with an undefeated conference record and will contend for the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
Navy defeats Loyola, 5-2
Doubles -- Loyola wins doubles point, 2-1 (2, 3, 1)
No. 1 Blest Jones / Brett Shriver (L) def. Austin Jones / Tucker Massie (N), 7-6 (7-5)
No. 2 Aries Wong / Walker Sims (N) def. Tyler Blessing / Greg Olesnycky (L), 6-1
No. 3 Jordan Kuchta / C.J. Cash (L) def. Cameron Kirkpatrick / Andrew Hicks (N), 6-1
Singles -- (6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4)
No. 1 Thomas Pecor (N) def. Jordan Kuchta (L), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Walker Sims (N) def. Tyler Blessing (L), 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 Krishna Jana (N) def. Reid Burch (L), 7-5, 6-1
No. 4 Connor Pietrak (L) def. Andrey Majkic (N), 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 1-0 (11-9)
No. 5 Joshua Martin (N) def. Blest Jones (L), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 6 Alex Gaines (N) def. C.J. Cash (L), 6-1, 6-3
