Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Winning the doubles point proved to be a key factor in allowing the Navy men's tennis team to record a narrow 4-3 victory over George Mason Saturday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis.

Navy (17-7) has now played six matches this season in which the final score was 4-3. Today's win over George Mason (8-13) gives the Mids a 3-3 record in those close matches. Additionally, Navy has now posted a 15-1 match record this year when it wins the doubles point.

The doubles point remained undecided until the third and final match was completed. After George Mason won at No. 1 doubles (6-2) and Navy won the No. 2 doubles match (6-3), the Mids secured the valuable point when their No. 3 tandem of Andrey Majkic (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) and Thomas Pecor (Jr., Houston, Texas) defeated Giuliano Buzoianu and Daniel Gutierrez by the score of 6-3.

"George Mason came out really strong at No. 1 doubles to take a lead in the doubles matches," said Navy head coach Chris Garner, "but our Nos. 2 and 3 teams came back quickly to give us the advantage we needed to win the point."

Austin Jones (Sr., Dallas, Texas) ran his winning streak in singles to 12 in a row when he won a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Aaron Capitel at No. 1 singles to give Navy a 2-0 lead. The advantage became 3-0 when Walker Sims (So., Memphis, Tenn.) posted a 6-1, 6-4 victory in his No. 4 singles match against Tanner Baine.

The Patriots would win the next two matches to be completed â€"â€" a 6-4, 6-3 win by Joe Hill over Aries Wong (So., Bethesda, Md.) at No. 3 and a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 victory by Buzoianu over Tucker Massie (So., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) at No. 6 â€"â€" to quickly slice the margin down to 3-2. Majkic would clinch the match for the Mids when he won a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 decision over Gutierrez at the No. 5 flight.

George Mason's Jimmy Lange outlasted Krishna Jana (Jr., Seabrook, Texas), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, at No. 2 singles in the last match left on the courts.

"In singles," said Garner, "Austin and Walker got off to great starts and never looked back in building a 3-0 team lead, but George Mason was leading in three of the four remaining matches. Krishna fought back well to take the second set and had opportunities to really pull away in the third but his opponent played some great tennis down the stretch. Andrey was down 3-2 in the third set and proceeded to win four games in a row with some really inspiring tennis."

Navy's next match will be one week from today when the Mids play at William & Mary. Navy will then return to Annapolis to play host to Bucknell the following day.

Navy (17-7) def. George Mason (8-13), 4-3
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (1-2-3)
1. Hill, Joe / Lange, Jimmy (GM) def. Jones, Austin / Massie, Tucker, 6-2
2. Jana, Krishna / Wong, Aries (NAVY) def. Baine, Tanner / Capitel, Aaron, 6-3
3. Majkic, Andrey / Pecor, Thomas (NAVY) def. Buzoianu, Giuliano / Gutierrez, Daniel, 6-3
Singles (1-4-3-6-5-2)
1. Jones, Austin (NAVY) def. Capitel, Aaron, 6-1, 6-0
2. Lange, Jimmy (GM) def. Jana, Krishna, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
3. Hill, Joe (GM) def. Wong, Aries, 6-4, 6-3
4. Sims, Walker (NAVY) def. Baine, Tanner, 6-1, 6-4
5. Majkic, Andrey (NAVY) def. Gutierrez, Daniel, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. Buzoianu, Giuliano (GM) def. Massie, Tucker, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2