Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy men's tennis team (1-1) split its first two duals of the spring after falling on the road at Penn (1-0), 7-0, but the Midshipmen earned a sweep of their own at home against St. Bonaventure (1-1), 7-0, to start its split-squad weekend.
 
With Navy splitting its squad for the four matches this weekend, it had all eight freshmen compete with seven taking part in singles and doubles competition to start the 2019 portion of the season.
 
"It was a great day to have so many freshmen compete in both matches to start the season, said head coach Chris Garner. "I think it is a great experience and a good building day for the freshmen. For our returners, it was a good chance for them to lead and to show what college tennis is about, along with what being on the Navy tennis team is about. Overall, it was a fabulous experience."
 
Penn 7, Navy 0
 
Penn got started out on the front foot in doubles action after Edoardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu picked up a 6-2 victory at No. 2 doubles. Navy stayed close in the remaining two doubles affairs, but the Midshipmen were unable to salvage a win as the Quakers earned the doubles point.
 
At No. 3 doubles, Jan Kjellberg (Fr., White Plains, N.Y.) and Romesh Kahatapitiya (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) suffered a 6-3 loss to Jonah Jurick and Jason Hildenbrandt – who clinched the doubles point for the Quakers. Penn held on to the momentum after doubles with another 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles, where Andrew Ton (So., Milpitas, Calif.) and Greg Durham (Jr., Melbourne Beach, Fla.) were defeated by Kyle Mautner and Dmitry Shatalin.
 
Shifting into singles competition, Graziani doubled the Quakers lead with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Durham at No. 2 singles. Noah Makarome pushed Penn just one win away from securing the team victory following a 6-3, 6-2 win against Kjellberg at the fourth-seeded singles contest.
 
The clinching point for the Quakers came at No. 4 singles with Shatalin beating Dabek, 6-2, 6-3.
 
In the final three singles matches, the Midshipmen looked to spoil the sweep for Penn with three narrow matches still on the court. However, Navy was unable to grab a victory in singles. Kahatapitiya forced a tiebreaker in the first set of No. 6 singles, but lost, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. At the top-seeded singles match, Ton lost, 6-3, 6-3, and Derrick Thompson (Fr., Towson, Md.) won the opening set at No. 3 singles, 6-3, but was unable to finish off Zhu in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss.
 
Navy 7, St. Bonaventure 0
 
In Navy's home dual, the Midshipmen flipped the script and swept St. Bonaventure. The freshmen pair of Jake Fishkin (Baltimore, Md.) and Jack McBride (Chapel Hill, N.C.) got the team started at No. 1 doubles with a 6-4 victory against Lukas Linden Malmberg and Ante Zovko. The Bonnies were able to even table for the doubles point after Marco Rivolo and Logan D'Angelo edged Navy's Sam Vagner (Fr., Staten Island, N.Y.) and Andrew Hicks (Sr., Haddon Heights, N.J.), 7-5, at No. 3 doubles.
 
With both teams securing one doubles victory, the battle for the doubles point and the early lead in the match hinged on the second-seeded doubles match. In a tight contest that was pushed to a tiebreaker, Jonathan Dollahite (Fr., Orem, Utah) and Conners O'Brien (Fr., Rensselaer, N.Y.) gave the Midshipmen a 1-0 lead in the match following a 7-6 (7-4) win against Martin Estevarena and John Rutkowski.
 
After winning the doubles point, Navy took the momentum and ran during the singles portion of the match with six straight-set victories to sweep the contest.
 
Matthew Lee (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) posted the first win at No. 2 singles over Zovko, 6-0, 6-2, and Peter Lohrbach (So., Little Neck, N.Y.) pushed Navy to a 3-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 1 against Malmberg. O'Brien clinched the match for the Midshipmen at No. 6 singles after topping D'Angelo, 6-1, 6-1.
 
Navy continued to roll with Fishkin winning, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles and Dollahite followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles. McBride secured the 7-0 victory for the Midshipmen after defeating Rutkowski in the fourth-seeded singles contest, 6-1, 6-2. 
 
The Midshipmen are back in action on Sunday for two more split-squad matches. Navy hosts Drexel at noon at the Tose Family Tennis Center and is also on the road in Pittsburgh, Pa., to take on Duquesne at 1 p.m.
 
 
Penn def. Navy – 7-0
Doubles
No. 1: Kyle Mautner/ Dmitry Shatalin (P) def. Andrew Ton/Greg Durham (N) – 6-3
No. 2: Kevin Zhu/ Edoardo Graziani (P) def. Derrick Thompson/Jack Dabek (N) – 6-2
No. 3: Jonah Jurik/Jason Hildebrandt (P) def. Jan Kjellberg/Romesh Kahatapitiya (N) – 6-3
 
Singles
No. 1: Kyle Mautner (P) def. Andrew Ton (N) – 6-3, 6-3
No. 2: Edoardo Graziani (P) def. Greg Durham (N) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 3: Kevin Zhu (P) def. Derrick Thompson (N) – 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4: Dmitry Shatalin (P) def. Jack Dabek (N) – 6-2, 6-3
No. 5: Noah Makarome (P) def. Jan Kjellberg (N) – 6-3, 6-2
No. 6: Max Cancilla (P) def. Romesh Kahatapitiya (N) – 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
 
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 2, 5, 4, 6, 1, 3
 
Navy def. St. Bonaventure – 7-0
Doubles
No. 1: Jake Fishkin/Jack McBride (N) def. Lukas Linden Malmberg/Ante Zovko (S) – 6-4
No. 2: Jonathan Dollahite/Conners O'Brien (N) def. Martin Estevarena/John Rutkowski (S) – 7-6 (7-4)
No. 3: Marco Rivolo/Logan D'Angelo (S) def. Sam Vagner/Andrew Hicks (N) – 7-5
 
Singles
No. 1: Peter Lohrbach (N) def. Lukas Linden Malmberg (S) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 2: Matthew Lee (N) def. Ante Zovko (S) – 6-0, 6-2
No. 3: Jake Fishkin (N) def. Martin Estevarena (S) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 4: Jack McBride (N) def. John Rutkowski (S) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 5: Jonathan Dollahite (N) def. Marco Rivolo (S) – 6-3, 6-0
No. 6: Conners O'Brien (N) def. Logan D'Angelo (S) – 6-1, 6-1
 
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 2, 1, 6, 3, 5, 4