MORGANTOWN, W. Va. â€" The Navy rifle team closed out its weekend of competition at the WVU Rifle Range with a 4677-4629 defeat to Nebraska on Saturday. Shooting at the neutral site, the Mids (6-5, 0-5 GARC) were unable to overcome a slow start in smallbore before the Huskers (8-1, 5-1 GARC) pulled away with a strong performance in air rifle.

Daniel Jonas (Sr., Allentown, N.J.) led Navy on Saturday with an aggregate score of 1166. He posted a season-high 585 in smallbore that was one point off his personal-best. The senior finished his day with a 581 in air rifle.

The match started off in smallbore with Jonas spearheading Navy's effort with a competition-high 585. Jonas surpassed Nebraska's best score of 581 shot by Samantha Peterson and Dacotah Faught. Kestrel Kuhne (Fr., Everett, Pa.) slotted in fourth overall and second on Navy with a 577-point score. Alex Muzzioli (Fr., Tiverton, R.I.) and Josh Watson (So., Enterprise, Ala.) closed out the counting lineup for the Mids with identical 563 results.

"Jonas and Kuhne were really good today," remarked head coach Bill Kelley. "Daniel was excellent in standing with a 195 out of 200. Kestrel showed a lot of improvement in her kneeling position."

Kuhne's 577 is a career-high for the plebe shooter. Coming into the weekend her high score was a 568, but in a span of 24 hours she recorded a 571 and 577 versus two top-10 opponents in West Virginia and Nebraska.

At the conclusion of the first portion of the match, Nebraska held a 2315 to 2288 advantage.

In air rifle, Navy turned in a well-rounded score of 2341 courtesy of all five starters posting 581 or better efforts. Watson was the Mids' leading scorer with a season-high 588. Thomas Sarant (Jr., Massapequa, N.Y.) slotted in number two on Navy's scoring list with a 587. Kuhne and her classmate Muzzioli were the final two counters with respective results of 584 and 582.

The Mids' air rifle score on Saturday was one point better than Friday versus WVU.

"I was pleased that everyone scored in the 580's in air rifle," said Kelley. "The only problem is that when you're facing a top team like West Virginia or Nebraska, you need some 590's to hang with them."

With Nebraska firing a 2362 in air rifle, the Huskers took the GARC match by a 4677 to 4629 score.

"We were a little bit off in terms of team scoring and in both guns," said Kelley. "After a really good scoring performance yesterday we struggled to duplicate it. We need some more consistency. If we could combine the two days and pick the best scores we would be good to go.

"Overall, I feel this was a positive weekend and we're getting there. We'll get back in the range on Monday and put together a good week of training before heading up to Palmyra and shooting against Ole Miss and Akron."

Navy will take on two more conference foes in Ole Miss and Akron next weekend in Palmyra, Pa. as part of the 2017 Palmyra Invitational. The three teams will toe the line on Saturday, Jan. 28.