By Cooper Mead

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team took on Navy at home this past Saturday in a highly contested match but fell to the Midshipmen 4-3. The close loss marked the third time in a row that the Bison have lost to Navy by just one point.

“It was a tough loss because as a team we know we are capable of beating any team, including Navy,” Josh Katten ’13 said. “However, the upside is that we know what we need to do differently in order to beat them in the conference tournament.”

The team had a strong showing in doubles as partners Katten and Evan Zimmer ’13, who were playing together for the first time, defeated Chris Kenney and Marcus Rebersak. Partners Kelly Morque ’13 and Scott Bernstein ’14 then won the doubles point for the Bison, defeating Nicholas Gutsche and Blake Daniel 8-4. With the doubles victory, the Bison were able to clinch the doubles point for just the second time since 1953.

Despite their promising doubles victory, the Bison struggled in singles, losing four of six. Katten won his singles match against Blake Daniel (6-2, 7-5), giving him his fourth consecutive singles victory. Katten has also won seven of his last eight contests and, at 17-7, has won more singles matches than any other member of the team this year. Gregory Maxson ’12 also won his singles match at the No. 6 spot against Chris Kenney (6-2, 6-1).

The Bison did hold a slim 3-2 team lead, but Gregg Cohenca ’12 was defeated by Rebersak at the No. 1 spot (6-3, 6-4), and Kyle Rosen ’14 was defeated by Gutsche (6-4, 6-3) in tough matches, allowing the Midshipmen to pull ahead to and win the match 4-3.

“We got off to a great start winning the doubles point but Navy was just tough,” Aidan Lynch ’14 said. “We’re looking forward to seeing them again down the line. We’ll be ready.”

The Bison will take on Georgetown on Friday and will complete their previously postponed match against Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday.