ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A raucous crowd filled with family, friends and classmates gathered at the Halsey Field House International Squash Courts on Sunday afternoon to help cheer the Navy squash team (13-4) to victory. Down 4-3 with two matches remaining, senior team captain Senen Ubina (Greenwich, Conn.) was clutch in evening the score before an injury default by Franklin & Marshall's No. 1 player in the fifth game gave the Midshipmen a 5-4 victory in what was the final home match for Navy's four seniors - Ubina, John Kacergis (Malvern, Pa.), Jamie Kjorlien (Greenwich, Conn.) and Dylan Sweeney (New York, N.Y.).

The afternoon began with first-year head coach Tyler Osborne honoring his four seniors before the traditional handshakes between competitors as the ladders were introduced.

Navy's seniors would parlay that energy onto the competition courts, as the group put together a 3-1 mark, including a 3-0 record among the nine countable matches.

Kjorlien produced the Mids' first win of the match when he cruised to a 3-1 victory over the Diplomats' Matthew Dukarm at the No. 6 position. Kjorlien closes out the regular season with a 9-7 record, while he also moved into a tie for 18th on the Mids' all-time wins list alongside former teammate and team captain Rany Beck (2013-17) with 64 wins.

Navy pushed its lead to 2-1 after junior Owen Davis put together one of his best performances of the year in an 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 win against F&M junior Yannis Senkel at No. 3.

Sweeney, meanwhile, registered the Mids' third win in a row when he took down F&M junior Boden Polikoff in four. Polikoff took the first game 11-6, but Sweeney rallied to win the final three to earn his 11th win of the year. The win also moved Sweeney into tie for 12th on the Mids' all-time wins list alongside former teammat Colin Barry (2011-15) with 69. A win in next weekend's College Squash Association Tournament would make him just the 12th player in school history to reach the 70-win milestone.

Franklin & Marshall made a remarkable comeback against the Mids to take a 4-3 lead, winning three in a row, including two matches in which it trailed 2-0. F&M veterans Ricardo Machado and King Bassett fought off match point in the third game of their respective matches and in turn won three in a row to pick up 3-2 victories.

Trailing 4-3, Ubina and Navy's No. 1 player, Jack Lentz, were left to rally the team to victory. Both players found themselves in a hole as their respective opponents won the opening game. Both Ubina and Lentz fought back in the second and while extra points were needed, both earned wins Ubina, 14-12, and Lentz, 12-10. F&M came up victors in the third game of both matches, but Ubina and Lentz again came storming back to take game four and level their matches at 2-2. Ubina, who faced a talented freshman in Aryan Parekh, willed his way to victory in the fifth (11-8) bringing the crowd to its feet as the team score was now even at 4-4.

As the attention turned to the No. 1 match between Navy's Lentz and F&M's Sanjay Jeeva, the crowd was met with silence. With Lentz holding a 7-6 advantage, Jeeva was in the midst of an injury timeout after incidental contact between the two players. Jeeva, however, was unable to return to the court and was forced to default, giving Navy the 5-4 victory.

The Mids have won five 5-4 matches this season - Virginia, Western Ontario, Middlebury, Williams and Franklin & Marshall - including four at home.

While the Mids have one final week playing together at the CSA Team Championship next week at Yale, they relished a final victory at home among those who came out to support them in their final home match.

"It's been a great run," said Kjorlien. "We put in a lot of work over the year, over the course of our careers. To play our final home match and end it with a nail-biting win was pretty incredible."

"It's been a long four-year journey for us seniors, but it's a special feeling to go out on a high note with a win at home," said Dylan Sweeney.

"What an electrifying way to end it at home," added Kacergis. "We've had some fun, competitive matches over the years and I'm grateful to still be having fun playing after four years."

"I'm thankful for the friendships that I have made through Navy squash," said Ubina. "The work that we have put in as a group and the challenges we have faced together have created a bond that we will always share. This is a special group of guys that I have shared the last four years with."


#13 Navy def #15 Franklin & Marshall, 5-4
1 | Jack Lentz (N) def Sanjay Jeeva (F&M), 3-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, 7-6 inj def
2 | Silvio Soom (F&M) def. Michael Kacergis (N), 11-8, 11-3, 3-11, 11-5
3 | Owen Davis (N) def Yannis Senkel (F&M), 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4
4 | Senen Ubina (N) def Aryan Perekh (F&M), 6-11, 14-12, 3-11, 12-10, 11-8
5 | Dylan Sweeney (N) def Boden Polikoff (F&M), 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-5
6 | Jamie Kjorlien (N) def. Matthew Dukarm (F&M), 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5
7 | King Bassett (F&M) def Ryan York (N), 6-11, 6-11, 14-12, 11-3, 11-9
8 | Ricardo Machado (F&M) def Ben Korn (N), 7-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7
9 | Allen Tompkins (F&M) def. Danny Finnegan (N), 9-11, 11-, 11-5, 11-4

### Go Navy ###