LEWISBURG, Pa. –– The Navy men's tennis team (5-0, 3-0 Patriot League) extended its winning streak to five matches in a row with a 7-0 victory over Bucknell (2-6, 1-1), Saturday afternoon in Lewisburg, Pa.  

The final score was far from indicative of how close the individual scores were in six of the nine matches. The Mids trailed in each of the three doubles matches and won three singles matches that were extended into three sets.

Navy entered the day with an 11-1 record in doubles matches this season.  The Mids would improve that mark to 14-1, but needed to win two close matches to do so.

The first match to finish was the No. 3 contest.  Bucknell's Michael Owen and Sam Yildirmlar led Navy's Finn Garner (So., Arnold, Md.) and Gavin Segraves (So., Charlottesville, Va.) by the score of 2-1, but the Mids won the next five games to close out the match.

At No. 2 doubles, Bucknell's Nick Mueller and Tim Zelikovsky jumped out to a 5-1 lead on Navy's Jack Dabek (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) and Derrick Thompson (Jr., Towson, Md.) and were serving to win the match.  The Mids promptly won the next six games to post a 7-5 win and secure the point for Navy.

Neither team in the No. 1 match –– Navy's Sasha Panyan (Fr., Lutherville, Md.) and Andrew Ton (Sr., Milpitas, Calif.); Bucknell's Marwan Abaza and Cooper Bradshaw –– recorded a break of serve over the first 10 games of the contest.  The Mids broke the Bison in game number 11 to take a 6-5 lead, but Bucknell broke Navy right back to force a tiebreaker.  The score was tied at 2-2 when Navy won the next three points to take a 5-2 lead.  Bucknell held the first of its two serves, then Navy broke the Bison on their second effort to reach match point with a 6-3 lead.  The Mids held their first serve to win the breaker by the score of 7-3.

"Bucknell had a great start in doubles," said Navy head coach Chris Garner, "but the guys came back to secure the point.  Derrick and Jack looked to be out of the set, but found some momentum to turn the tide.  Andrew and Sasha played a nice tiebreaker to win their match."

Navy would go on to win the first set in five of the six singles matches.  This included Jake Fishkin (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) winning the first set of his No. 3 match against Bradshaw by the score of 6-1.  Fishkin went on to win the second set, 6-4, to place Navy's second team point of the match on the scoreboard.  

Garner made the score 3-0 when he defeated Mueller, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 4 flight.

Earning the fourth and match-clinching team point was Segraves when he recorded a 6-1, 6-2 win over Zelikovsky at No. 5 singles.

The lone match that saw a Mid lose the first set came at the No. 1 flight where Ton lost to Abaza, 6-1.  Ton rebounded to win the second set by the score of 6-3, then won the tiebreaker used in place of a complete third set, 10-2.

Panyan didn't drop a game in winning the first set of his No. 6 match against Guillero Torres, then took a 4-2 lead in the second set before Torres earned a 7-5 win in the frame at force a third set.  Panyan would win the third set by the score of 6-1.

At No. 2 singles, Thompson won a 6-3 first set over Owen, but then lost the second set, 6-4.  Thompson bounced back to win the third stanza, 6-1.

"We were able to get off to a good start in singles," said Garner.  "Jake, Finn and Gavin played well to close out their matches in straight sets. Andrew, Sasha and Derrick competed well to get their three wins."

Navy will close out its regular season with an April 17 match at Army.

Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (3-2-1)
1. Panyan, Sasha / Ton, Andrew (NAVY) def. Marwan Abaza / Cooper Bradshaw (BUC) 7-6 (7-3)
2. Dabek, Jack / Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Nick Mueller / Tim Zelikovsky (BUC) 7-5
3. Garner, Finn / Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Michael Owen / Sam Yildirimlar (BUC) 6-2
Singles (3-4-5-1-6-2)
1. Ton, Andrew (NAVY) def. Marwan Abaza (BUC) 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2)
2. Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Michael Owen (BUC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
3. Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) def. Cooper Bradshaw (BUC) 6-1, 6-4
4. Garner, Finn (NAVY) def. Nick Mueller (BUC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Tim Zelikovsky (BUC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Panyan, Sasha (NAVY) def. Guillermo Torres (BUC) 6-0, 5-7, 6-1