BETHLEHEM, Pa. –– The Navy men's tennis team garnered the top seed for the 2021 Patriot League Tournament that will be contested this week in Bethlehem, Pa. Lehigh will play host to the event that runs Thursday through Sunday, with the winner of the tournament advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
The Mids received the No. 1 seed after posting a 4-0 record against league competition this season. Navy defeated Loyola (7-0), Lehigh (5-2), Bucknell (7-0) and Army (4-1) during the abbreviated spring campaign.
Navy will open the tournament Friday at 11 a.m. against the winner of Thursday's first-round match between No. 8 Lafayette (1-3) and No. 9 Holy Cross (0-4). The Leopards suffered league losses to Army (5-0), Loyola (5-2) and Colgate (7-0), and posted a 4-1 victory over Holy Cross. In addition to the Lafayette loss, the Crusaders dropped league matches to Colgate (7-0), Army (7-0) and Boston U. (4-0).
The winner of Friday's Navy vs. Lafayette or Holy Cross quarterfinal round match advances to a semifinal contest Saturday at 11 a.m. against the winner of No. 4 Bucknell and No. 5 Colgate. The Bison split their four league matches this spring, losing to the Mids and Lehigh (4-3) and defeating Colgate (4-1) and Loyola (6-1). The Raiders finished their regular season with a 3-2 mark against league competition. Colgate's wins were recorded against Boston U. (4-3), Holy Cross (7-0) and Lafayette (7-0), and their losses were to Lehigh (4-3) and Bucknell (4-1).
The quarterfinal matches on the other side of the bracket feature No. 2 Army (4-1) vs. No. 7 Loyola (1-3) and No. 3 Lehigh (3-2) taking on No. 6 Boston U. (1-2).
The tournament final will be played Sunday at noon.
Navy has won each of the last two Patriot League Tournament titles to be contested –– the 2020 event was canceled –– as well as three of the last five titles and 12 championships in all.
Each of the last six tournament finals have featured Army-Navy matches. The Mids won the 2015, '18 and '19 tournaments and the Black Knights won the 2014, '16 and '17 titles.
Navy has posted a 15-0 record in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament, an overall record of 7-0 against Lafayette (6-0 in the quarterfinals) and a mark of 5-0 against Holy Cross (all in the quarterfinals).
The Mids are the top-seeded team in the tournament for the 10th time. Navy has won eight titles when it has entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Navy closed the regular season with a 4-1 victory at Army Saturday.
The Mids won the doubles point from the Black Knights to take a 1-0 lead. Navy then won a trio of straight-set singles matches to earn the victory.
Andrew Ton (Sr., Milpitas, Calif.) won at No. 1 singles,
Derrick Thompson (Jr., Towson, Md.) won at Nos. 2 doubles and 2 singles, and
Gavin Segraves (So., Charlottesville, Va.) won at Nos. 3 doubles and 5 singles.
Patriot League Tournament Schedule
Thursday, April 22 – First Round
3 p.m. – #8 Lafayette (1-7 / 1-3) vs. #9 Holy Cross (0-6 / 0-4)
Friday, April 23 – Quarterfinals
11 a.m. – #1 Navy (6-0 / 4-0) vs. Lafayette / Holy Cross
11 a.m. – #4 Bucknell (3-7 / 2-2) vs. #5 Colgate (3-5 / 3-2)
3 p.m. – #3 Lehigh (4-2 / 3-2) vs. #6 Boston U. (3-5 / 1-2)
3 p.m. – #2 Army West Point (7-2 / 4-1) vs. #7 Loyola (3-11 / 1-3)
Saturday, April 24 – Semifinals
11 a.m. – Navy / Lafayette / Holy Cross vs. Bucknell / Colgate
3 p.m. – Lehigh / Boston U. vs. Army West Point / Loyola
Sunday, April 25 – Final
Noon – Semifinal Winners
