BETHLEHEM, Pa. –– A great start in doubles carried the Navy men's tennis team to a 4-0 victory over Colgate, Saturday at the Ulrich Varsity Courts in Bethlehem, Pa.  The victory by top-seeded Mids (8-0) over the fifth-seeded Raiders (4-6) advances Navy into Sunday's championship match of the Patriot League Tournament.  The Mids will face either No. 2 Army or No. 3 Lehigh at noon.

Navy's Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams jumped out to identical 4-0 leads in their respective matches.  The No. 3 team of Finn Garner (So., Arnold, Md.) and Gavin Segraves (So., Charlottesville, Va.) would be the first match to finish as the Mids defeated Jack Ablon and Nate Romig by the score of 6-1.  Then the No. 2 team of Jack Dabek (Jr., Dublin, Ohio) and Derrick Thompson (Jr., Towson, Md.) defeated Rohan Gupta and Nick Potter by the same score to give the Mids a 1-0 advantage.

In the remaining match, Navy's Sasha Panyan (Fr., Lutherville, Md.) and Andrew Ton (Sr., Milpitas, Calif.) held a 5-2 lead over Francis Scott Bickel and Jack Selati when the doubles point was secured.

"We had a very solid start in doubles," said Navy head coach Chris Garner.

Four players won first sets in singles decisively, with Mids claiming three of those wins.  Ton won his first set against Bickel, 6-0 at the No. 1 flight, Thompson won a 6-1 frame over Selati at No. 2, Segraves won the first set of his No. 5 match against Romig by the score of 6-1, and Colgate's Mike Thomas won, 6-1, over Jack McBride (Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) at the No. 6 flight.

Garner gave Navy its fourth first-set win when he topped Ablon, 6-3, at the No. 4 flight, then Gupta won a 7-5 opening set over Jake Fishkin (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) at No. 3 singles.

Segraves was the first player to finish his match as he completed a sweep of Romig, 6-1, 6-1.

Thompson gave the Mids their third point of the day when he posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Selati.

Ton closed out play when he defeated Bickel, 6-0, 6-0.

"Gavin, Derrick and Andrew played well in closing out their matches to get us to four points," said Garner.

Garner held a 6-3, 4-1 lead when play was halted.  Additionally, Fishkin fought back to take a 4-1 lead in the second set over Gupta and McBride was hanging in his match against Thomas, 6-0, 6-5.

Navy is playing in the league tournament final for the ninth-straight time and the 13th time in the last 14 editions of the event.

Navy def. Colgate, 4-0
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (3-2)
1. Panyan, Sasha / Ton, Andrew (NAVY) vs. Bickel, Francis Scot / Selati, Jack (COLG) 5-2, unfinished
2. Dabek, Jack / Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Gupta, Rohan / Potter, Nick (COLG) 6-1
3. Garner, Finn / Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Ablon, Jack / Romig, Nate (COLG) 6-1
Singles (5-2-1)
1. Ton, Andrew (NAVY) def. Bickel, Francis Scot (COLG) 6-0, 6-0
2. Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Selati, Jack (COLG) 6-1, 6-2
3. Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) vs. Gupta, Rohan (COLG) 5-7, 4-1, unfinished
4. Garner, Finn (NAVY) vs. Ablon, Jack (COLG) 6-3, 4-1, unfinished
5. Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Romig, Nate (COLG) 6-1, 6-1
6. McBride, Jack (NAVY) vs. Thomas, Mike (COLG) 1-6, 5-6, unfinished