WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Freshman Steve Nguyen rallied after dropping the first set and being down a break of serve in the second set of his singles match to win in three sets and score the deciding point in a 4-2 victory by the Navy men's tennis team over Bucknell, Saturday afternoon at West Point, N.Y., in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.  The second-seeded Mids (28-14) defeated the third-seeded Bison (16-7) in the semifinal round for the second year in a row (4-3 in 2023).

Navy will face top-seeded Boston U. Sunday at 11 a.m. in the championship match. That will be a rematch of last year's final in which the Mids posted a 4-0 win over the Terriers.

Navy won the doubles today against the Bison with 6-3 wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 flights.  Luke Garner and Sasha Panyan posted a victory over Oscar Bain and Adam Stavrakas at No. 1 doubles in the first match to finish.  The Mids earned the point when their No. 3 tandem of Herrick Legaspi and Nathan Nguyen defeated Brendan McDonald and Will Robinson. 

"Sasha and Luke got the team out to a quick start in doubles, with Nathan and Herrick playing better and better as their set progressed to get us the doubles point," said Navy head coach Chris Garner.

In the remaining match, Bucknell's Liam Kilmer and Amar Tahirovic defeated Aniketh Ayinala and J.J. Etterbeek, 6-4, at No. 2 doubles.

Garner would make the score 2-0 when he registered a 6-2, 6-2 win over Bain at No. 3 singles.  Ayinala soon followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win over McDonald at the No. 6 flight. 

Those results made the score 3-0, but the Bison fought back.

Stavrakas defeated Legaspi, 6-0, 6-4, at No. 2 singles, then Tahirovic held off a second-set rally by Panyan to win in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), at the No. 1 flight, and just like that the Navy lead was down to 3-2.

"Luke and Aniketh played well to get us to three points," said Garner, "then Bucknell's one and two players played well to close the gap.  

"J.J. and Steve were locked in very close matches."

Etterbeek had a chance to score the final point as he edged Tim Zelikovsky, 7-6 (8-6) to win the first set in their No. 5 match.  Then Etterbeek trailed, 4-1, early in the second set but tied the frame at 5-5.  He was broken, then Zelikovsky held serve to win the stanza, 7-5, and force a third set.

"J.J. and Zelikovsky have played each other three times and their matches are always close," said Garner.

One court over, Kilmer raced out to a 4-1 lead at the start of his No. 4 singles match against Steve Nguyen and claimed the first set, 6-2.  Kilmer also had an early break in the second set, this time to take a 4-2 lead.  Nguyen won the next two games to tie the score at 4-4.  Kilmer again tallied a break, but Nguyen answered with a break of his, held serve and posted another break to win the set, 7-5, and extend play into a third set.

Nguyen was the first player to notch a break of serve in the final set, with that effort giving him a 3-2 lead.  He held serve and tallied another break to take a 4-2 lead.  Another hold by Nguyen increased his lead to 5-2.  Kilmer held serve to keep play going, but Nguyen held again to end the match.

"Steve really swung the momentum of the match around by making a very strong comeback in the second set and taking a commanding lead in the third set," said Garner.  "He and Kilmer played a number of great points.  When Steve began winning more of those, he was able to close it out and get us to four points."

Etterbeek was leading, 2-1, with he and Zelikovsky on serve when it was halted.

The Mids are in the championship match for the 16th time in the last 17 years in which the event has been held.  Navy has won the last five titles and 11 championships in the last 16 seasons.  

The Terriers are in their second final since they began competing in the event in 2015.

Boston defeated Navy, 4-2, when the teams met in late March in Annapolis.

Navy 4, Bucknell 2
Doubles (1-2-3)
1. Garner, Luke / Panyan, Sasha (NAVY) def. Oscar Bain / Adam Stavrakas (BUCKNELL) 6-3
2. Liam Kilmer / Amar Tahirovic (BUCKNELL) def. Ayinala, Aniketh / Etterbeek, J.J. (NAVY) 6-4
3. Legaspi, Herrick / Nguyen, Nathan (NAVY) def. Brendan McDonald / Will Robinson (BUCKNELL) 6-3
Singles (3-6-2-1-4)
1. Amar Tahirovic (BUCKNELL) def. Panyan, Sasha (NAVY) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Adam Stavrakas (BUCKNELL) def. Legaspi, Herrick (NAVY) 6-0, 6-4
3. Garner, Luke (NAVY) def. Oscar Bain (BUCKNELL) 6-2, 6-2
4. Nguyen, Steve (NAVY) def. Liam Kilmer (BUCKNELL) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
5. Etterbeek, J.J. (NAVY) vs. Tim Zelikovsky (BUCKNELL) 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 2-1, unfinished
6. Ayinala, Aniketh (NAVY) def. Brendan McDonald (BUCKNELL) 6-2, 6-3

First Round - April 25
No. 8 Holy Cross def. No. 9 Lafayette, 4-1
Quarterfinals - April 26
No. 1 Boston U. def. No. 8 Holy Cross, 4-0
No. 4 Army def. No. 5 Lehigh, 4-2
No. 3 Bucknell def. No. 6 Colgate, 4-0
No. 2 Navy def. No. 7 Loyola, 4-0
Semifinals - April 27
No. 1 Boston U. def. No. 4 Army, 4-0
No. 2 Navy def. No. 3 Bucknell, 4-2
Final - April 28
11 a.m. - No. 1 Boston U. vs. No. 2 Navy