Final Stats

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Army West Point won four singles matches â€"â€" each in three sets, three of which included set tiebreakers â€"â€" to edge the Navy men's tennis team, 4-3, Sunday afternoon in the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament. The over four-hour match was contested at the Lewis Tennis Center on the Lehigh campus in Bethlehem, Pa.

"We were 1-4 in three-set singles matches," said Navy head coach Chris Garner. "We had opportunities in each of the four matches we lost, but were unable to cross the finish line.

"It was a great environment for both teams. You could really see how much it meant to all of the players."

Sunday's result was a reversal of the regular season outcome between the two teams that was played last weekend. The top-seeded Mids (22-9) posted a 4-2 victory over the second-seeded Black Knights (18-8) on April 23 in Annapolis. The two 2016 meetings also were the opposite of what occurred during the 2015 campaign when Army West Point won the regular season meeting and Navy recorded the victory in the final of the league tournament.

Navy earned the doubles point Sunday when it won the first two matches to be completed. Finishing first was the No. 1 flight where Austin Jones and Tucker Massie recorded a 6-3 win over Harrison McCormick and Grant Riechmann. The Mids would place the point on the scoreboard thanks to a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles by their team of Walker Sims and Aries Wong over Kyle Barnes and Austin McCasin.

The Lewis Tennis Center features only four indoor courts, so the Nos. 1-4 flights were the first to begin. The Black Knights evened the score at 1-1 when Michael Nguyen defeated Sims, 6-1,1-6, 6-3, at No. 4 singles. Jones gave Navy the lead again when he tallied a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sam Lampman at the No. 1 flight. The victory was the 18th in a row for team captain Jones â€"â€" all at No. 1 singles â€"â€" and gave him a 20-3 record in singles matches during the dual match season, as well, as a 28-10 overall singles record on the year. That ties him for the second-most singles overall wins in a season by a Mid. His 28 wins trails only the 34 victories posted by Mitch Koch in 2000.

The score became knotted a 2-2 after Army West Point's David Mitchell recorded a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Wong at No. 3 singles, then the Black Knights took a 3-2 advantage when Riechmann won a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-5 decision over Thomas Pecor at No. 2 singles.

The lone match of the six singles contests to be completed in straight sets was at the No. 6 flight where Massie defeated McCormick, 6-3, 6-4, to tie the proceedings at 3-3. That left just the match at No. 5 singles between Krishna Jana and Barnes to decide the outcome.

Barnes won the first set by the score of 6-1, then Jana won the second set by the count of 7-5. The third set between the duo would be extended into a tiebreaker, which Barnes won by the score of 7-4.

"Austin Jones had an incredible season, both on and off the court with this team," said Garner. "I hope we have players who look to step up next season to continue building upon the culture the players have been creating the last two seasons."

This marked the third-straight season and the eighth time in the last 10 years in which Navy and Army West Point have met in the championship match of the tournament. The Mids have posted a 6-2 record against the Black Knights when the teams have met in the final over the past decade.

Army West Point (18-8) def. Navy (22-9), 4-3
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (1-2)
1. Jones, Austin / Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. McCormick, Harrison / Riechmann, Grant (ARMY), 6-3
2. Sims, Walker / Wong, Aries (NAVY) def. Barnes, Kyle / McCasin, Austin (ARMY), 6-4
3. Majkic, Andrey / Pecor, Thomas (NAVY) vs. Lampman, Sam / Nguyen, Michael (ARMY), 4-4, unfinished
Singles (4-1-3-2-6-5)
1. Jones, Austin (NAVY) def. Lampman, Sam (ARMY), 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. Riechmann, Grant (ARMY) def. Pecor, Thomas (NAVY), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-5
3. Mitchell, David (ARMY) def. Wong, Aries (NAVY), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
4. Nguyen, Michael (ARMY) def. Sims, Walker (NAVY), 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
5. Barnes, Kyle (ARMY) def. Jana, Krishna (NAVY), 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Massie, Tucker (NAVY) def. McCormick, Harrison (ARMY), 6-3, 6-4