Final Stats

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Gabriel Pilones (So., Bradenton, Fla.) posted a three-set victory in the last match left on the courts to give the Navy men's tennis team a 4-3 victory over Boston U. Saturday at the Drumlins Tennis Center in Syracuse, N.Y., in a semifinal round match of the Patriot League Tournament. The victory by the top-seeded Mids (27-10) over the fifth-seeded Terriers (14-12) sends Navy into the championship match of the tournament.

Navy will face either No. 2 Army Sunday at noon, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament. The Mids defeated the Black Knights, 4-3, one week ago today.

"A great match today between two very good teams," said Navy head coach Chris Garner. "There were a lot of close matches with just a couple of points separating the two teams."

Today's match was very similar to the first meeting of the season, a 4-3 victory by the Terriers on March 25 in Annapolis.

Navy claimed the doubles point today ---- just as it had in the first match of the year ---- with victories at the No. 3 and No. 1 flights, respectively. Peter Lohrbach (Fr., Little Neck, N.Y.) and Andrey Majkic (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) combined for a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles over Owen Lu and Ethan Kolsky in the first match to be completed. The Mids earned the point thanks to a 6-3 win by Andrew Ton (Fr., Milpitas, Calif.) and Aries Wong (Sr., Bethesda, Md.) over David Bogatin and Fabian Soemarno.

Navy's No. 2 tandem of Greg Durham (So., Melbourne Beach, Fla.) and Pilones held a 5-4 lead over Satyajit Simhadri and Pete Siozios when that match was halted due to the Mids securing the point.

Navy increased its lead to 3-0, but Boston won the next three matches to finish ---- all in three sets ---- to tie the score at 3-3.

Walker Sims (Sr., Memphis, Tenn.) gave Navy a 2-0 advantage with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pedro Gutierrez at No. 4 singles, then the score became 3-0 in favor of the Mids when Ton defeated Simhadri, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, at the No. 1 flight.

Those would be the only two matches to be completed in straight sets.

Boston placed its first point on the scoreboard when Lu rallied after dropping the first set against Wong at No. 2 singles to win, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Terriers climbed to within 3-2 with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory by Bogatin over Durham at the No. 3 flight. The score soon was knotted at 3-3 when Sable posted a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win over Lohrbach at No. 6 singles.

"Boston played very well in pulling even," said Garner.

That left the match at No. 5 singles between Pilones and Siozios to decide which team moves on and which team heads home. Pilones won the first set by the score of 6-4, but Siozios won the second by an identical score. Pilones would edge Siozios, 7-5, in the third set to advance the Mids to the championship match for the seventh year in a row.

"Gabriel came up big," said Garner. "There were a lot of positive takeaways from this match for us, but also there we areas we can keep improving on as a team."

Navy held a 3-1 lead over Boston in the first meeting of the season only to see Boston win the final three matches to finish ---- all in three sets ---- to rally for the victory.

Patriot League Tournament Semifinal
No. 1 Navy (27-10) def. No. 5 Boston U. (14-12), 4-3
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (3-1)
1 -- Andrew Ton / Aries Wong (Navy) def. David Bogatin / Fabian Soemarno, 6-3
2 -- Greg Durham / Gabriel Pilones (Navy) led Satyajit Simhadri / Pete Siozios, 5-4 DNF
3 -- Peter Lohrbach / Andrey Majkic (Navy) def. Owen Lu / Ethan Kolsky, 6-2
Singles (4-1-2-3-6-5)
1 -- Andrew Ton (Navy) def. Satyajit Simhadri, 7-6 (3), 6-3
2 -- Owen Lu (BU) def. Aries Wong, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
3 -- David Bogatin (BU) def. Greg Durham, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
4 -- Walker Sims (Navy) def. Pedro Gutierrez, 6-3, 6-4
5 -- Gabriel Pilones (Navy) def. Pete Siozios, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
6 -- Marc Sable (BU) def. Peter Lohrbach, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)