WEST POINT, N.Y. –– Another tightly contested men's tennis match between Navy and Boston U. went the way of the Mids Saturday at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center in West Point, N.Y.  Navy (30-13), the top seed in this weekend's Patriot League Tournament, held off the fifth-seeded Terriers (9-16), 4-1, in the semifinal round of the event.
 
The teams have met four times in the semifinal round in the six seasons the Terriers have been members of the Patriot League.  Navy has won all four of those decisions, with three of them –– including last year –– being decided by the score of 4-3.
 
"It was another close and competitive Navy-Boston match today," said Navy head coach Chris Garner.
 
Navy took a 1-0 lead thanks to the Mids winning the first two doubles matches to finish.  Each of those two matches were decided by one break of serve. 
 
The first match to conclude was the No. 3 contest where Greg Durham (Jr., Melbourne Beach, Fla.) and Jake Fishkin (Fr., Baltimore, Md.) combined for a 6-4 win over Ethan Kolsky and Max Stehling.  The Mids secured the lone available point when their No. 2 tandem of Peter Lohrbach (So., Little Neck, N.Y.) and Derrick Thompson (Fr., Towson, Md.) won a 7-5 decision over J.P. Avila and Max Hartenstein.
 
The remaining match at the No. 1 flight between Navy's Jack Dabek (Fr., Dublin, Ohio) and Andrew Ton (So., Milpitas, Calif.) and Boston's David Bogatin and Owen Lu was in a tiebreaker when play was halted.
 
"After Greg and Jake won their match, Derrick and Peter were able to finish strong to get us to the 1-0 lead," said Garner.
 
Four of the six singles matches were extended into three sets
 
Thompson continued his strong play with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles over Lu.  Bogatin sliced the lead in half when he defeated Ton, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 1 flight.
 
The Navy lead grew to 3-1 when Jack McBride (Fr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) rallied after losing the first set to Hartenstein to win, 6-7 (0-7), 6-3, 6-1, at No. 4 singles.  The semifinal ended when Lohrbach defeated Marc Sable, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, at the No. 6 flight.
 
Two matches were left on the court when the Mids garnered their fourth team point.  Boston's Pete Siozios held a 4-3 third-set lead on Durham at No. 3 singles and the No. 5 match between Fishkin and Pedro Gurierrez was tied at 5-5 in the third set. 
 
"We got off to a good start in singles," said Garner, "but Boston fought back well at three, five and six.  Jack forced a third set, which proved to be valuable to us.  This was after Derrick got us the second point with some impressive play at two.  Jack finished well to get us to three points, then Peter played a very good third set to clinch the victory."
 
Navy has advanced to the championship match of the tournament for the eighth year in a row and the 12^th time in the last 13 seasons.  The Mids will face either No. 2 Army or No. 3 Lehigh Sunday at noon, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Navy def. Boston U., 4-1
Doubles – Navy wins the doubles point (3-2)
1. Dabek, Jack / Ton, Andrew (NAVY) vs. David Bogatin / Owen Lu (BOSTONU) 6-6, unfinished
2. Lohrbach, Peter / Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. J.P. Avila / Max Hartenstein (BOSTONU) 7-5
3. Durham, Greg / Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) def. Ethan Kolsky / Max Stehling (BOSTONU) 6-4
Singles (2-1-4-6)
1. David Bogatin (BOSTONU) def. Ton, Andrew (NAVY) 6-3, 6-4
2. Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Owen Lu (BOSTONU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Durham, Greg (NAVY) vs. Pete Siozios (BOSTONU) 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 3-4, unfinished
4. McBride, Jack (NAVY) def. Max Hartenstein (BOSTONU) 6-7 (0-7), 6-3, 6-1
5. Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) vs. Pedro Gutierrez (BOSTONU) 6-3, 4-6, 5-5, unfinished
6. Lohrbach, Peter (NAVY) def. Marc Sable (BOSTONU) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1