ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Saint Francis men's tennis team earned a 4-3 win at Navy on Saturday.  The Red Flash won the doubles point and singles matches at No. 1, 4 and 5 to improve to 2-0 to start the spring season, including a win over the Midshipmen, the defending Patriot League champions.
 
The Red Flash took the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and 3.
 
Sophomore Alec Dylan Foo-Kune (Phoenix, Mauritius/International Connections Academy (Md.)) and senior Washi Gervais (Longueuil, Quebec/College Stanislas) combined at the top doubles spot against Navy's Alex Gaines and Aries Wong.  In a tight set, the SFU pair came out on top with a 7-5 victory to clinch the doubles point.
 
At the No. 3 doubles position, junior Plamen Avuski (Plovdiv, Bulgaria /Math High School ) and freshman Jan Vit Suntar (Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia/Gimnazija Kranj) matched up against the Midshipmen's Parker Hayslett and Andrey Majkic.  The Red Flash duo picked up a 6-3 win for its second win of the weekend.
 
Junior Rodrigo Tico (Guadalajara, Mexico/Colegio de Bachilleres) and freshman Robin van der Heijden (Burgh Haamstede, Netherlands/Scheldmond College) paired up at No. 2 to compete against Navy's Tucker Massie and Tyler Tossavainen.  The Navy pair won a close set, 7-6, including a 7-5 tiebreaker.
 
Gervais took on Wong at the top singles spot.  The Red Flash senior won a tough opening set, 7-6, and came out on top in the tiebreaker of the set, 7-5.  The senior followed that with a 6-4 victory in the second set to move to 2-0 this spring.
 
At the No. 4 position, Suntar battled against Navy's Joshua Martin.  The Slovenia native claimed the first set, 6-4.  He then completed the straight set win with a 6-2 victory in the following set.  Suntar also completed a 2-0 weekend to improve to 6-3 overall.
 
With SFU leading the overall match score, 3-2, Avuski earned a big win at No. 5 to clinch the match point.  The junior won a tough opening set, 7-6, against the Midshipmen's Tossavainen, closing out the frame with a 7-5 tiebreaker.  Avuski finished the straight-set victory with a 6-4 win in the second set.  He now has six wins overall this year.
 
At the No. 2 singles position, Foo-Kune competed against Navy's Majkic.  However, Foo-Kune fell 6-0, 6-3, to finish 1-1 on the weekend.  Tico took on Gaines at the No. 3 spot, but dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to also go 1-1 this weekend.
 
The Red Flash freshman, van der Heijden, matched up against Navy's Hayslett at the No. 6 spot.  The Netherlands native claimed the opening set, 7-6, including a 7-4 win in the tiebreaker.  In the following set, Hayslett responded with a 6-4 set win.  In the super-tiebreaker deciding set, the Navy freshman won 10-7.
 
"This was a great effort by our guys and it was a total team win," said Head Coach Rob Castille. "We showed a lot of heart and battled hard.  The guys came out on top with great energy in doubles and didn't let up in singles against a strong Navy team.  There are still things we need to improve on and we'll work hard this week in practice to fix them. We'll look to carry this momentum next week for our match with Niagara.  Overall it was a strong start to the Spring season."
 
Saint Francis returns to action on Friday, January 22 for a 5 p.m. match against the Purple Eagles.  It will be Niagara's first match this spring.
 
Doubles:
1. Foo-Kune/Gervais(SFU) def. Gaines/Wong(Navy), 7-5.
2. Massie/Tossavainen(Navy) def. Tico/van der Heijden(SFU), 7-6(5).
3. Avuski/Suntar(SFU) def. Hayslett/Majkic(Navy), 6-3.
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
 
Singles:
1. Gervais(SFU) def. Wong(Navy), 7-6(5), 6-4.
2. Majkic(Navy) def. Foo-Kune(SFU), 6-0, 6-3.
3. Gaines(Navy) def. Tico(SFU), 6-4, 6-3.
4. Suntar(SFU) def. Martin(Navy), 6-4, 6-2.
5. Avuski(SFU) def. Tossavainen(Navy), 7-6(5), 6-4.
6. Hayslett(Navy) def. van der Heijden(SFU), 6-7(4), 6-4, (10-7).
Order of Finish: 2,3,4,1,5,6