ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Success from a mix of veterans and players who were new to the series combined to give the Navy (24-17, 6-1) men's tennis team a 4-1 victory over Army (17-10, 5-1), Saturday afternoon at the USNA Tennis Courts in Annapolis.  Navy had seven players account for one victory on the day, with no player winning two matches.

The match was the 26th and final Army-Navy Star Game, part of the Star Series presented by USAA, of the 2025-26 academic year.  The Mids won the Star Series with a 17-8-1 record.  Additionally, with wins on the day by men's tennis, women's tennis and men's rugby, Navy has posted a 22-10-1 record against Army in all games to clinch the overall series on the year.  

Navy has compiled a 9-1 record against Army in the Star Series and an 8-2 record in the overall series over the last decade.

"For tennis fans," said Navy head coach Chris Garner, who has guided Navy to 13 wins in a row against Army and to 10-straight Star Match victories, "they may want to go to the U.S. Open or the French Open.  But if you are a tennis fan, it should be on your bucket list to watch this match at Navy.  It is an incredible atmosphere.  If these young men compete in the world after they commission –– whether they are from Army or Navy –– like they do on the tennis court, they are not to be trifled with.  I am just a coach helping the Navy guys, but to watch these young men leave it all on the court, give it everything they have, deal with the ups and downs, the emotions they have inside ... these institutions are doing something to help them to grow and enabling them to step up and have an incredible playing opportunity against one another."

Navy had a great start to the day as it convincingly won the doubles point.  The No. 2 team of Aniketh Ayinala and Tommy Kim raced out to a 4-0 lead on its way to recording a 6-1 victory over Matias Feoli and Jimin Jung.  Navy secured the point when its No. 3 tandem of Lachlan Buckingham and Jake Young won the last five games to defeat Jackson Armistead and Marcus Sebastian by the score of 6-1.

The No. 1 match was stopped with Navy's Herrick Legaspi and Charlie Spencer holding a 5-1 lead on Daniel Choi and Jack Hanna.

Kim and Buckingham were playing in the Army-Navy match for the first time, Ayinala improved to 3-0-1 in doubles against the Black Knights and Young has now posted a 3-0-0 record in doubles against Army.

"The guys did a really good job of taking care of their volleys, put their returns in play, make good first serve and put a lot of pressure on their opponents very quickly," said Garner on the play of the doubles teams.  "Great energy as well.  Lachlan leads the way with his energy and fighting spirit and wanting to be in that environment.  I think the rest of the guys feed off of that."

Winning the doubles point meant Navy needed to win three of the six singles matches and Army four to secure the final outcome.

Steve Nguyen quickly made the score 2-0 when he posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Davis McDonald at No. 6 singles.  The match was Nguyen's first in singles against Army after he had recorded a no decision in his lone prior doubles match.

"Obviously it is very important to get that second point on the scoreboard," said Garner on Nguyen giving Navy the 2-0 lead.  "It may put more pressure on Army than give us anything.  Now they have to win four of remaining five points to walk out of here with a win.  It doesn't change in that whomever wins has to get to four points.  We have been on the other end where we were way down and have seen other teams who were way up and the other team comes back.  You really can't rest.  

"Steve is in there for a reason.  He loves competition.  McDonald is an excellent player."

That would be the only match of the six to finish in straight sets.

Army cut the lead in half (2-1) when Jung defeated Ayinala, 6-0, 1-6, 6-2 at the No. 2 flight.  

J.J. Etterbeek lost the first set of his No. 5 match against Choi by the score of 6-3, but the Navy team captain responded by recording 6-1 wins in sets two and three to extend the advantage to 3-1.  The victory gives Etterbeek a 4-1-0 record in singles against Army.

"I think J.J. stayed more composed," said Garner on Etterbeek's play in the latter two sets.  "Daniel Choi is an excellent player with an all-court game who moves and serves well.  He got off to a great start.  Especially in these environments, or in any tennis competition, you just have to stay the course when someone is playing well and see what happens on the next point and the next game.  As tennis players, we all are guilty of looking at someone who is playing well and thinking that might be happening on each point in the entirety of the match.  Daniel was playing at a very high level.  J.J. plays a very physical game style.  I think that took its course throughout the match and helped J.J. in his comeback."

Charlie Spencer closed play when he registered a 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Alan Ton at No. 3 singles.  It was Spencer's first career singles match against the Black Knights.

"Holding serve was big for both of those players," said Garner of the third set in the No. 3 singles match.  "No one was really able to push ahead too far.  Alan is a fighter; he is an energy guy.  We knew that would be a great match.  Charlie was just able to hang in there until the end.  That was a very close match as far as what was going to happen.  Alan is a very good, very skilled player.  It was a matter of if you can weather the storm when he really gets his game going."

Navy's Tommy Kim held a 4-6, 6-3, 3-2 lead on Feoli at No. 4 singles in one of the two remaining matches.  The final match was just about to enter a third set as Navy's Herrick Legaspi won the first set over Armistead by the score of 7-5 and Armistead earned the victory in the second set by the same score.

These two teams now set their sights on next week's Patriot League Tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Lehigh.  Pairings for the tournament will be announced Tuesday.

Navy 4, Army 1
Doubles -- Navy wins the doubles point (2-3)
1. Legaspi, Herrick / Spencer, Charlie (NAVY) vs. Choi, Daniel / Hanna, Jack (ARMY) 5-1, unfinished
2. Ayinala, Aniketh / Kim, Tommy (NAVY) def. Feoli, Matias / Jung, Jimin (ARMY) 6-1
3. Buckingham, Lachlan / Young, Jake (NAVY) def. Armistead, Jackson / Sebastian, Marcus (ARMY) 6-1
Singles (6-2-5-3)
1. Legaspi, Herrick (NAVY) vs. Armistead, Jackson (ARMY) 7-5, 5-7, unfinished
2. Jung, Jimin (ARMY) def. Ayinala, Aniketh (NAVY) 6-0, 1-6, 6-2
3. Spencer, Charlie (NAVY) def. Ton, Alan (ARMY) 6-2, 1-6, 7-5
4. Kim, Tommy (NAVY) vs. Feoli, Matias (ARMY) 4-6, 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
5. Etterbeek, J.J. (NAVY) def. Choi, Daniel (ARMY) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
6. Nguyen, Steve (NAVY) def. McDonald, Davis (ARMY) 6-1, 6-0