ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Seeking its first Patriot League final appearance, the No. 4 seed Boston University men's tennis team rallied from an early two-point deficit to tie the match but ultimately came up just short to defending conference champion and top seed Army West Point, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at Navy's Tose Family Tennis Center.
THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: Army West Point 4, Boston University 2
Records: Army (20-9), BU (10-16)
Venue: Tose Family Tennis Center – Annapolis, Md.
Full Results: HTML
MATCH NOTES
- The Black Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead by winning the top two doubles matches by a combined score of 12-3.
- Grant Riechmann pushed the lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles against senior Mario Sandoval.
- BU though came back with two victories, as freshman J.P. Avila rolled past Michael Sienko, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 6 slot and senior Lucas Bombonatti held off 2016 All-PL Second Team member Michael Nguyen, 6-4, 6-4, at line 1.
- With his win, Bombonatti remained perfect in singles action at the Patriot League tournament with an all-time record of 7-0.
- 2016 PL Rookie of the Year David Mitchell put the Black Knights ahead for good with a 6-2, 6-3 win against senior Jake De Vries at line 4.
- Army's Myles Conlin clinched the PL final berth for the Black Knights by edging freshman Marc Sable, 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 5 slot.
- Sophomore Satyajit Simhadri was in a tightly-contested matchup at line 2 with 2016 All-PL FIrst Team member Sam Lampman slightly ahead, 6-4, 5-5 when their contest was halted.
SEASON'S END
- The contest marked the end for the collegiate careers of seniors Bombonatti, Miguel Cepeda, De Vries, Jay Leelavanich and Sandoval, who helped BU transition into the Patriot League with three semifinal appearances and a combined 34 wins.
- Head coach Dejan Stankovic will return three participants from this year's tourney - Avila, Sable and Simhadri.