Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" A sweep of the doubles point helped to spark the Navy men's tennis team to a 5-2 victory over UMBC Friday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.

"This could have easily been a 4-3 match and going for either team," said Navy head coach Chris Garner. "The guys really had to buckle down and stay competitive throughout their matches."

The proceedings began with Navy (16-7) winning each of the doubles matches against UMBC (5-13) to earn the doubles point. The first match to finish was the No. 3 contest where Navy's duo of Krishna Jana (Jr., Seabrook, Texas) and Walker Sims (So., Memphis, Tenn.) posted a 6-1 victory over Biyik Akinshemoyin and Vijay Golla. The Mids secured the doubles point with a win by their No. 1 tandem of Austin Jones (Sr., Dallas, Texas) and Tucker Massie (So., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.). Navy's combination recorded a 6-4 win over Eliott Loubatie and Malker Svard.

The final match saw Andrey Majkic (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) and Aries Wong (So., Bethesda, Md.) defeat Justin Carter and Alex Drean in a tiebreaker, with the score of the breaker being 7-3.

"Krishna and Walker did a really good job of getting out early in their doubles match," said Garner. "I think that helped our other two doubles teams in that it gave them a little cushion to earn the doubles point. But UMBC came right back quickly in singles and put a lot of pressure on our guys."

Drean bounced back from the narrow doubles loss to defeat Jana, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 3 singles to knot the score at 1-1. However, the Mids would win each of the next four matches to finish to earn the overall victory.

Navy regained the advantage when Majkic posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Kevin Hsieh at No. 6 singles, then built a 3-1 cushion on a 7-5, 6-1 victory by Sims over Akinshemoyin at the No. 5 flight. Navy placed its match-clinching fourth team point on the scoreboard when Jones rallied after dropping the first set of his No. 1 singles match against Carter to win, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

"Austin was down big in the first set, but battled back a little bit and soon found his groove and that carried on to the next two sets," said Garner. "I think that really was the match that helped turn the tide in the overall course of everyone's match. It easily could have been a 4-3 match one way or another. It was really good on Austin's part.

"Andrey got out there and really took it to his opponent. Walker and his opponent had a great first set. Those guys were going toe-to-toe with some great tennis. He was just able to keep his level very high and win that match in straight sets."

The final two matches to be completed saw Navy's Thomas Pecor (Jr., Houston, Texas) hold off Svard, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 2 singles, and UMBC's Loubatie thwart a late charge by Wong to win the No. 4 singles match between the players by scores of 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. Wong trailed Loubatie 5-1 in the third set before tying the frame.

Navy will be back on the Tose Family Tennis Center courts tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. when the Mids play host to George Mason. That match was originally slated to be played outdoors in Fairfax, Va., but was moved indoors and to Annapolis because of the poor weather expected to arrive in the area on Saturday.

Navy (16-7) def. UMBC (5-13), 5-2
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (3-1-2)
1. Jones, Austin / Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. Loubatie, Eliott / Svard, Malker, 6-4
2. Majkic, Andrey / Wong, Aries (NAVY) def. Carter, Justin / Drean, Alex, 7-6 (7-3)
3. Jana, Krishna / Sims, Walker (NAVY) def. Akinshemoyin, Biyik / Golla, Vijay, 6-1
Singles (3-6-5-1-2-4)
1. Jones, Austin (NAVY) def. Carter, Justin, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Pecor, Thomas (NAVY) def. Svard, Malker, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
3. Drean, Alex (UMBC) def. Jana, Krishna, 6-3, 6-1
4. Loubatie, Eliott (UMBC) def. Wong, Aries, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
5. Sims, Walker (NAVY) def. Akinshemoyin, Biyik, 7-5, 6-1
6. Majkic, Andrey (NAVY) def. Hsieh, Kevin, 6-3, 6-1