ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The annual Army-Navy men's tennis Star Match will be played Saturday at West Point, N.Y. First serve for the match –– which is part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA –– between the Mids (21-14, 7-0 Patriot League) and the Black Knights (11-6, 4-2 Patriot League) is set for 1 p.m. inside the Lichtenberg Tennis Center.
Links to free live video and free live results from the match can be found at NavySports.com.
Saturday's match closes the regular season for both teams. The Patriot League Tournament will be played April 18-20 at Bucknell.
Navy Review
The Mids have posted a 9-2 record in their last 11 matches with those two defeats being 4-3 setbacks to Temple and Norfolk State. Navy has posted a 5-1 record in matches played over the last week. Included in this recent span are league wins over Bucknell, Holy Cross and Loyola.
Army Preview
Army saw its eight-match winning streak come to a close with an April 5 loss at Lehigh (4-2). The Black Knights then dropped a 5-2 decision Wednesday at NJIT.
Patriot League Opponent Comparison
Navy enters the match with a 7-0 record in Patriot League play and Army has posted a 4-2 record against league foes. Each team has defeated Boston, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Loyola. The Mids have beaten Bucknell and Lehigh and the Black Knights have lost to both of those teams. Navy has additionally defeated Colgate, a team Army has not faced.
Non-League Opponent Comparison
Both teams lost to Georgetown, Navy defeated Richmond and lost to Hofstra while Army lost to the Spiders and beat the Pride.
Series Notes
Navy has posted a 72-38 record against Army, which includes a 28-19 record in matches played at West Point. The Mids have won the last 10 matches in the series and have left West Point with a victory in each of their last five visits.
Navy also holds a 57-30 advantage in Star Matches played between the teams. This includes a 26-17 record in Star Matches played at Army. The Mids have won the last eight Star Matches and have won the Star Match the last four times it has been played in West Point.
Eleven of the last 19 Star Matches (2005-24) have had the final score of 4-3. This includes five of the last 10 Star Matches played at Army. The Mids won a 4-3 decision over the Black Knights in the 2023 Star Match played at West Point.
2024 Match
Navy registered a 4-1 victory in the 2024 Star Match played between the teams in Annapolis. The Mids won the doubles point with victories at the Nos. 2 (
Aniketh Ayinala and
J.J. Etterbeek, 6-1) and 3 (
Herrick Legaspi and
Nathan Nguyen, 6-2) flights. Army held a 4-3 lead in the match at No. 1 doubles when play was stopped.
Three of the six singles matches were extended into three sets, but only one of those matches was finished. The Mids earned straight-set wins at the Nos. 5 (Etterbeek, 6-2, 6-2) and 6 (Ayinala, 6-4, 7-5) flights, then 2024 team captain
Sasha Panyan rallied after dropping the opening set by the score of 6-0 to win sets two and three, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 1 singles to close out play.
Additional returning Mids who took to the court in 2024 were
Luke Garner, who saw his match at No. 1 doubles not finished (trailed 4-3) and lost his No. 3 singles match (6-1, 6-3),
Herrick Legaspi, who trailed 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 at No. 2 singles, and
Steve Nguyen, who trailed 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 at No. 4 singles.
Among returning Army players, Vishnu Bodavula had each of his matches at No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles left unfinished, Marcus Sebastian lost at No. 2 doubles and No. 6 singles and Alan Ton dropped his matches at No. 2 doubles and No. 5 singles.
Doubles Point
The team winning the doubles point in the last 25 Army-Navy matches (dating back to 2010) has posted just a 14-11 record in the match. This includes Army winning the doubles point in four of the last five and five of the last 10 matches, all of which have been won by the Mids.
Army-Navy Experience
Army returns three players who have faced Navy and there are six current Mids who have played a match against the Black Knights.
Army Players vs. Navy (Doubles W-L-UF / Singles W-L-UF)
Vishnu Bodavula - 0-0-2 / 0-1-1
Marcus Sebastian - 0-1-0 / 0-1-0
Alan Ton - 0-1-0 / 0-1-0
Totals - 0-2-2 / 0-3-1
Navy Players vs. Army (Doubles W-L-UF / Singles W-L-UF)
Aniketh Ayinala - 1-0-0 / 1-1-0
J.J. Etterbeek - 1-0-0 / 2-0-0
Luke Garner - 2-1-1 / 1-1-0
Herrick Legaspi - 1-0-0 / 0-1-1
Nathan Nguyen - 1-0-1 / 0-0-0
Steve Nguyen - 0-0-1 / 0-0-0
Totals - 6-1-3 / 4-3-1
