The Owls traveled across the Pennsylvania state border to Maryland and were swept by Navy, 7-0, on Saturday.

The Owls only won one match in nine contests. The only victory came from juniors Nicolas Paulus and Hicham Belkssir in the first flight doubles match.

Tough competition has caused the Owls some trouble this season. They only have one conference win and are winless against nationally ranked opponents.

Navy controlled the match from the beginning by securing the doubles point in two matches with respective scores of 6-3 and 6-4. The Midshipmen also won three out of the six singles matches in straight sets.

Owls coach Steve Mauro said his team was unable to play the aggressive style that it’s accustomed to. In Saturday’s match, Mauro said his team had to play a more conservative style, trying to just keep balls in play.

The weather played an important part in the match Saturday as both teams played sloppy tennis.

“The wind played a huge factor in the match today,” Mauro said. “Because we haven’t been able to play that much outside hurt us because we were not used to the wind conditions. The official told me that the wind was blowing at about 20 miles per hour … it was like we were playing on a different surface.”

The Owls lost all three third-set tiebreakers to fall on the wrong side of those singles matches. This season, the team has struggled to win those all-important tiebreakers and win close matches.

Mauro said both teams were just trying to get the balls over the net through the gusty conditions. He also said that he is looking forward to the team’s remaining games, which will all be at home.

The Owls (11-9, 1-2 American Athletic Conference) will have three days off before hosting a doubleheader at the Student Pavilion on April 8 against Coppin State at 11 a.m. and Rider at 3 p.m.

-Dalton Balthaser