Third Match Is The Charm For Army!

       On February 18^th, the Army men’s tennis team had traveled to Dayton, Ohio to play a tripleheader against Ball State, Lipscomb, and Air Force. After suffering back to back losses against Ball State and Lipscomb on Saturday, Army managed to redeem themselves by toughing out a win against their academy rival Air Force, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon. The Black Knights played all 3 matches at a neutral-site location in Dayton, Ohio and highlighted their weekend by winning the “Silver Star” and improving their record to 4-4 on the season. The Army Black Knights lost to their first-time opponent the Ball State Cardinals 4-3 in their first match of the weekend. Black Knights’ Asika Isoh and Henry Jang-Milsten earned singles and doubles wins on the day, first teaming together at No. 1 doubles. The duo defeated Cardinals’ Dalton Albertin and Ray Leonard 8-5. Isoh then battled Albertin in 3 sets at No. 1 singles and eventually defeated him 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Jang-Milsten struggled with his opponent as well, taking Alexandre Brym to 3 sets. Jang-Milsten won against Brym 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. Tied at 3-3, the match was decided by the No. 3 singles match between Army’s Alex Holland and Ball State’s Zane Smith. Smith prevailed in 3 sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and helped the Cardinals beat the Black Knights 4-3. The Cardinals improved to 7-2 on the season.                                                                                                                                            Later on that same Saturday, the Army Black Knights would also play the Lipscomb Bison but only in singles matches. At first, Army was off to a good start after Asika Isoh defeated Bison’s Oliver Strecker at No. 1 singles 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. However, Army would go on to lose 5 straight in singles and lost 5-1 to the first-time opponent Lipscomb. The Bison improved their record to 2-3 on the season with the win. Army went on to play Air Force the next day and managed to start the game with the lead, 1-0, after capturing the doubles point. Black Knights’ Alex Van Velzer and Peter Sienko beat Falcon’s Andy Jackson and Alex Grubbs, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles, while Alex Holland and Rommel Verano knocked off Falcon’s Joey Brandt and Ali Rizvi, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles. In singles play, Van Velzer cruised past Jackson at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-2, and fellow Black Knight Sienko proved to be on his game as well, defeating Alex Lineberry in 2 quick sets 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. However, Air Force kept Army on their toes as they took wins at No. 1, 3, and 4 singles. At No. 6 singles, Army’s Rashad Shelton would start the match by losing the first set to Air Force’s Steven Young 6-2. Despite the situation looking grim, Shelton regained his composure and made a miraculous comeback to beat Young in the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2. Army will return to their home courts at Lichtenberg Tennis Center for a final nonconference tune-up against Columbia on February 25th Patriot League play opens the following day with a doubleheader opposite Lafayette and Holy Cross.