ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy men's tennis team (3-1) split a pair of 4-3 decisions Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center in Annapolis, defeating Youngstown State (0-2) and losing to St. Francis Brooklyn (1-1).

"Having the chance to compete against two teams that were very evenly matched with ours was a great experience and opportunity for our team," said Navy head coach Chris Garner.  

Navy began the day with its victory over Youngstown State.

The doubles point came down to the last of the three matches to finish.  Navy had won the first match to be completed, a 6-1 win by Sasha Panyan (So., Lutherville, Md.) and Derrick Thompson (Sr., Towson, Md.) over Harry Fouzas and Erik Gran.  Youngstown State then saw its No. 3 team of Nathan Favier and Clement Mainguy defeat Luke Garner (Fr., Arnold, Md.) and William Pak (So., Chantilly, Va.) by the score of 6-4.  The Mids secured the doubles point when Finn Garner (Jr., Arnold, Md.) and Jack McBride (Sr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) combined for a 6-3 win at the No. 2 flight against Will Everett and Laurentiu Mandocescu.

"Our doubles teams of Sasha and Derrick and Finn and Jack played solid to win the point," said Garner.

Thompson made the score 2-0 when he defeated Mandocescu, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 1 singles.  The Penguins tied the match at 2-2 with victories by Mainguy over Cy McLeod (Fr., Augusta, Ga.), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, at No. 6 singles and Favier over Luke Garner, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) at the No. 5 flight.

The Penguins took a 3-2 lead when Fouzas defeated Panyan, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, at No. 4 singles.  McBride evened the proceedings with his 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory against Gran at the No. 3 flight.  Finn Garner then defeated Javi Pla, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, at No. 2 singles to give the Mids the victory.

"Derrick, Jack and Finn were impressive in coming back from deficits in their matches to win," said Garner.

St. Francis would win the first two doubles matches to finish to take a 1-0 lead.  The No. 3 team of Miroslav Cvietan and Luis Fox Sotos defeated Jan Kjellberg (Sr., White Plains, N.Y.) and Christian Pumpelly (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.), 6-4, at No. 3 doubles, then the school's No. 1 tandem of Jan Godrey Seno and William Lindqvist Nilsson posted a 6-4 win over Jack Dabek (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) and Jake Fishkin (Sr., Baltimore, Md.).  

The remaining match saw Navy's No. 2 team of Nicholas Nguyen (So., McLean, Va.) and Gavin Segraves (Jr., Charlottesville, Va.) defeat Matheus Paiva and Gustavo Pinho, 7-5.

"Gavin and Nicholas played really well together to win their match," said Garner, "but St. Francis was equally good in their two wins."

St. Francis increased its lead to 2-0 when Gleb Mityurin defeated Nguyen, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 5 singles.  Navy would tie the score at 2-2 thanks to a 6-4, 6-1 win by Segraves over Pinho at the No. 1 flight and a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory by Fishkin over Lindqvist Nilsson at No. 2 singles.  

Seno gave the lead back to the Terriers when he defeated Conners O'Brien (Sr., Rensselaer, N.Y.), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, at No. 4 singles, but Dabek tied the score again when he posted a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over Cvietan at the No. 3 flight.

St. Francis won the match when Lars Schneider defeated Sam Vagner (Sr., Staten Island, N.Y.), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, at No. 6 singles.

"Gavin and Jake got us on the board by winning in straight sets and really finding a groove  in their second sets," said Garner.  "Jack played an inspiring match to get us to a third point, but St. Francis was too strong down the stretch in the other matches.

"While we gained our points from the higher positions in the lineup, I know everyone will keep taking advantage of the opportunities in practice and matches to improve in the coming weeks."

Navy will play four matches next weekend.  The Mids will first split their squad to play at Penn and at home against Saint Joseph's on Feb. 5, then will play host to Coppin State and Georgetown on Feb. 6.

Navy 4, Youngstown State 3
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (1-3-2)
1. Panyan, Sasha / Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Fouzas, Harry / Gran, Erik (YSU) 6-1
2. Garner, Finn / McBride, Jack (NAVY) def. Everett, Will / Mandocescu,Laurentiu (YSU) 6-3
3. Favier, Nathan / Mainguy, Clement (YSU) def. Garner, Luke / Pak, William (NAVY) 6-4
Singles (1-6-5-4-3-2)
1. Thompson, Derrick (NAVY) def. Mandocescu,Laurentiu (YSU) 6-4, 7-5
2. Garner, Finn (NAVY) def. Pla, Javi (YSU) 5-7, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
3. McBride, Jack (NAVY) def. Gran, Erik (YSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
4. Fouzas, Harry (YSU) def. Panyan, Sasha (NAVY) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
5. Favier, Nathan (YSU) def. Garner, Luke (NAVY) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Mainguy, Clement (YSU) def. McLeod, Cy (NAVY) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3

St. Francis Brooklyn 4, Navy 3
Doubles -- St. Francis wins the doubles point (3-1-2)
1. Seno, Jan Godfrey / Lindqvist Nilsson, William (SFBK) def. Dabek, Jack / Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) 6-4
2. Nguyen, Nicholas / Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Paiva, Matheus / Pinho, Gustavo (SFBK) 7-5
3. Cvietan, Miroslav / Fox Sotos, Luis (SFBK) def. Kjellberg, Jan / Pumpelly, Christian (NAVY) 6-4
Singles (5-1-2-4-3-6)
1. Segraves, Gavin (NAVY) def. Pinho, Gustavo (SFBK) 6-4, 6-1
2. Fishkin, Jake (NAVY) def. Lindqvist Nilsson, William (SFBK) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
3. Dabek, Jack (NAVY) def. Cvietan, Miroslav (SFBK) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Seno, Jan Godfrey (SFBK) def. O'Brien, Conners (NAVY) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
5. Mityurin, Gleb (SFBK) def. Nguyen, Nicholas (NAVY) 6-2, 6-3
6. Schiender, Lars (SFBK) def. Vagner, Sam (NAVY) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2