ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Sophomore Maciej Autuch earned a victory at number four singles as the Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis team fell on the road to a strong Navy squad, 4-1.
 
The Knights (2-6) played the match to clinch, meaning there was one unfinished doubles match and two unfinished singles matches. The Knights dropped both of the doubles matches necessary for the Midshipmen (14-5) to earn the first match point, and the Knights only captured one of four completed singles matches. FDU players were either tied or leading the unfinished singles bouts.
 
Autuch completed his victory against Navy's Romesh Kahatapitiya in straight sets, edging his opponent in the first set, 7-5, before cruising to a 6-1 second set win to earn the match victory.
 
Sophomore Eduardo Cabral at no. 6 singles was also leading his match but it went unfinished because Navy at that point had clinched the win. Cabral defeated his Navy counterpart Conners o'Brien in the first set by a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5) and was ahead 3-0 in the second set at the time of stoppage.
 
Junior Ivan Solans Diaz won the first set, 6-1, of his no. 5 singles match against Cameron Kirkpatrick, but then fell by a close 5-7 margin in the second set. The third set of his match went unplayed.
 
Cabral and Solans Diaz teamed up at no. 3 doubles and Autuch joined sophomore Moric Budinszky at no. 2 in the two bouts that were completed. Both FDu duos fell by 3-6 margins. Freshman Mehdi Dhouib and sophomore Andris Gudins were only down by one, 4-5, to Navy's ranked no. 1 doubles duo when play was stopped.
 
Dhouib, Gudins and Budinszky also competed in singles for FDU, with each player falling in straight sets.
 
The Knights play on Navy's campus again Saturday morning, taking on St. Francis Brooklyn at 10 a.m., in their first NEC match of the spring.
 
BOX SCORE
DOUBLES
Mehdi Dhouib/Andris Gudins (FDU) vs. no. 74 Jack Dabek/Andrew Ton (NAVY), 4-5, unfinished
Derrick Thompson/Romesh Kahatpitiya (NAVY) def. Moric Budinszky/Maciej Autuch (FDU), 6-3
Cameron Kirkpatrick/Conners O'Brien (NAVY) def. Ivan Solans Diaz/Eduardo Cabral (FDU), 6-3
 
SINGLES
Ton (NAVY) def. Dhouib (FDU), 6-0, 6-1
Thompson (NAVY) def. Gudins (FDU), 6-0, 6-1
Dabek (NAVY) def. Budinszky (FDU), 6-1, 6-2
Autuch (FDU) def. Kahatapitiya (NAVY), 7-5, 6-1
Solans Diaz (FDU) vs. Kirkpatrick (NAVY), 6-1, 5-7, unfinished
Cabral (FDU) vs. O'Brien (NAVY), 7-6 (5), 3-0, unfinished