BETHLEHEM, Pa. –– The Navy men's tennis team (9-0) rallied after losing the doubles point to defeat Army (9-3), 4-2, Sunday in the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament in Bethlehem, Pa.  The Mids won the program's third league title in a row, ninth title in 14 seasons and 13th championship in all.

The top-seeded Mids and the second-seeded Black Knights were meeting in the championship match of the league tournament for the seventh year in a row, the 11th time in 13 seasons and the 18th time since the inaugural 1995 edition of the event.

Navy will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament.  The brackets for the tournament will be announced on NCAA.com at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 3.  The first round will be played either May 7 or May 8, depending upon site.

Navy won the first doubles match to finish at No. 3 flight.  Finn Garner (So., Arnold, Md.) and Gavin Segraves (So., Charlottesvile, Va.) broke David Gorshein and Samuel Haikal to take a 3-2 lead, then won the next three games to win, 6-2.

Army's No. 1 team of Thomas Lake and A.J. Woodman registered the first break of serve in its match against Sasha Panyan (Fr., Lutherville, Md.) and Andrew Ton (Sr., Milpitas, Calif.) to take a 3-2 lead.  The Black Knights won the next three games to close out the match.

At No. 2 doubles, Army's Samuel Eden and Diego Huttepain won the first three games of its match against Jack Dabek (Jr.. Dublin, Ohio) and Derrick Thompson (Jr., Towson, Md.) on its way to taking a 5-1 lead.  The Mids broke the Black Knights to stay in the match (5-2), but then were broken themselves to give Army the 1-0 advantage.

"Army played great in doubles to win the point," said Navy head coach Chris Garner, who has led the Mids to four league tournament titles in his seven years (finalist in 2016 and '17, no tournament in '20) and a 45-5 record against league foes.

Navy needed to win four singles matches to rally for the victory, while Army needed to win just three.  The Black Knights were on pace to do just that as they won the first set in three matches.  

Thompson placed Navy's first point of the day on the scoreboard when he defeated Woodman, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 2 flight.  It was Thompson's third singles victory of the tournament.  The Mids would take the lead when Ton posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Huttepain at No. 1 singles.

Ton's victory gave him a combined singles and doubles record of 36-4 against Patriot League opponents in his career.  This includes a 5-0 record in singles matches against Army.  He was named the MVP of the league tournament for the second time in his career (2018).

"Andrew and Derrick set the tone for us in singles with their straight-set wins," said Garner.

Army's Lake would even the team score at 2-2 when he completed a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Jake Fishkin (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) at No. 3 singles.  Garner returned the lead to the Mids thanks to his 6-4, 6-4 win over Eden at No. 4 singles.

"Jake's opponent played really well," said Garner, of Lake.  "Finn was able to turn his match around, which was great for us."

That left the Nos. 5 and 6 matches remaining, both of which saw Army players win first sets.  Navy's Jack McBride (Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) would rally after losing a 6-3 first set to Jake Huarte in their No. 6 singles match to win sets two and three, 6-4, 6-4, and record the match-clinching fourth team point.  Play was halted after McBride's win with Segraves holding a 2-6, 6-4, 3-2 lead over Gorshein at the No. 5 flight.

"Gavin and Jack were in very competitive matches," said Garner.  "They were both able to come from losing the first set.  Jack was fantastic in closing out the match for the team."

Navy def. Army, 4-2
Doubles -- Army wins the doubles point (3-1-2)
1. Lake, Thomas / Woodman, A.J. (ARMY) def. Panyan, Sasha / Ton, Andrew (NAVY) 6-2
2. Eden, Samuel / Huttepain, Diego (ARMY) def. Dabek, Jack / Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) 6-2
3. Garner, Finn / Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Gorshein, David / Haikal, Samuel (ARMY) 6-2
Singles (2-1-3-4-6)
1. Ton, Andrew (NAVY) def. Huttepain, Diego (ARMY) 6-2, 6-2
2. Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Woodman, A.J. (ARMY) 6-3, 6-2
3. Lake, Thomas (ARMY) def. Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) 6-4, 6-2
4. Garner, Finn (NAVY) def. Eden, Samuel (ARMY) 6-4, 6-4
5. Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) vs. Gorshein, David (ARMY) 2-6, 6-4, 3-2, unfinished
6. McBride, Jack (NAVY) def. Huarte, Jake (ARMY) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4