WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA continues this Saturday with a men's tennis matchup hosted at West Point's Malek Courts at 1 p.m.
Navy claimed the Star in 2016 with a 4-2 win on home turf, while Army secured it in 2015 by a score of 4-0.
The Black Knights enter the weekend with an overall record of 18-8 and 6-0 in Patriot League play, while the Midshipmen boast a 19-17 mark on the year and are 3-1 in the conference.
Navy leads the all-time series with Army, 61-37, which includes a 23-19 edge in matches played at West Point. The Mids also hold a 50-30 advantage in Star Matches, which includes a 22-17 lead when it is played at Army.
Navy opened the league campaign with a loss to Boston U. (5-2), but since that defeat has posted wins over Lehigh (7-0), Loyola (5-2) and Bucknell (5-2). The victories over the Greyhounds and the Bison were recorded last weekend. Helping the Mids to two of the team's most recent wins was Aries Wong (Jr., Bethesda, Md.), who won both of his singles matches and teamed with Krishna Jana (Sr., Seabrook, Texas) for two doubles victories. Army has outscored its six league opponents 25-2 in posting wins over Holy Cross (4-0), Loyola (4-0), Bucknell (4-0), Lafayette (5-0), Boston U. (4-1) and Lehigh (4-1).
Both teams return a trio of players who recorded at least one victory during last year's matches. For Navy, Thomas Pecor (Sr., Houston, Texas) recorded a win in singles (Star Match) and doubles (league tournament), Walker Sims (Jr., Memphis, Tenn.) won a singles (Star Match) and doubles (league tournament) match and Wong earned a doubles win alongside Sims. Returning for the Black Knights are David Mitchell, who posted a singles win (league tournament), Michael Nguyen, the winner of a singles match in both meetings, and Grant Riechmann, who won a singles match (league tournament).