ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Army and Navy men's tennis teams will meet Saturday at 1 p.m. on the Malek Tennis Courts in West Point, N.Y., in the annual Star Match between the programs.  The match is part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA.

In addition to the Star being on the line Saturday, the winner also will garner the No. 1 seed in next week's Patriot League Tournament that will be played at West Point.  The Mids have posted a 5-0 record against league foes (27-13 overall) and the Black Knights are unbeaten in six league contests (12-12 in all).  Navy has outscored its league competition by the count of 30-3 and Army has outscored its league opponents 24-4.

"The Star Match is always an incredible experience for every member of the team," said Navy head coach Chris Garner.  "It's a benefit to their overall development to have the opportunity to take part in such a storied rivalry.  The matches have been very competitive over the last few years, and I anticipate this match being very competitive, too."

The teams played two close matches last season, with Navy winning the Star Match by the score of 4-3 and claiming a 4-2 victory –– Navy led, 6-5 in the third set, in the remaining match that was stopped –– in the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament.  Seven of the 12 singles matches played between the teams a year ago were extended into three sets.  Additionally, Army won all three doubles matches in the Star Match and Navy won two doubles matches and led 5-4 in the third match when it was stopped during the league tournament meeting.

A total of three players return who won both of their singles matches in the Army-Navy meetings a year ago.  Back for Navy are Andrew Ton (So., Milpitas, Calif.) and Peter Lohrbach (So., Little Neck, N.Y.) and Army returns junior Myles Conlin.  Ton won both of his No. 1 singles matches, Conlin posted a 2-0 record at No. 3 singles and Lohrbach won two matches at No. 6 singles.  

Each team returns just three players in all who played singles against the other last season.  Navy's Greg Durham (Jr., Melbourne Beach, Fla.) lost to Conlin in both matches, Army senior David Mitchell was 0-1-1 at No. 4 singles and Mitchell's teammate Anant Mundra lost twice to Lohrbach.

Newcomers are playing a significant role for both teams this season.  Half of Army's singles lineup during the league season and four of its six doubles players are freshmen.  For Navy, freshmen occupy four positions in both the singles and doubles lineups that have regularly faced league competition.

"Both teams have productive returning players in their lineups," said Garner, "and each has a number of strong freshmen who have helped their teams to a number of wins this season."

Navy holds a 64-38 advantage in the all-time series with Army, a mark that includes a 24-19 edge in matches played in West Point.  The Mids also lead the Black Knights in Star Matches by an overall count of 52-30 and hold a 23-17 advantage in Star Matches played in West Point.

Navy Career W-L-T vs. Army West Point
Greg Durham '20 –– 2-2-0 D / 1-2-1 S
Matthew Lee '20 –– 1-0-1 S
Peter Lohrbach '21 –– 1-0-1 D / 2-0-0 S
Andrew Ton '21 –– 1-1-0 D / 2-0-0 S

Army West Point Career W-L-T vs. Navy
Myles Conlin '20 –– 1-1-0 D / 3-1-0 S
Anant Mundra '20 –– 0-2-0 S
David Mitchell '19 –– 0-2-1 D / 2-2-2 S
Grant Patterson '19 –– 0-1-2 D