ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's tennis dropped a non-conference competition at home on Wednesday afternoon versus the University of Maryland by a count of 5-2. Taking on the Terrapins (1-0) at the Tose Family Tennis Center, the Mids (3-2) earned the doubles point before the visitors earned five of six points in the singles portion of the match.

"Maryland is a talented team. They will be a force to be reckoned with in the Big Ten and in our region," remarked Navy head coach Keith Puryear after the match. "I felt we did a good job of problem solving today. We competed hard and our energy level was great from start to finish."

In doubles action, Maryland took an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a victory at second doubles before the duo of Claudia Mackenzie and Emily Louie-Meadors knotted it at one-all with a 6-1 win at first doubles. The doubles point was decided from the number three slot as Rozel Hernandez and Carlee Conway outlasted the Maryland pair of Cassandre Thebault and Olivia Gaudreault by a score of 6-4.

Up 1-0 in the contest, Navy saw its lead evaporate as Maryland came out of the break and won the first three singles matches at the first, fourth and second positions. Ansofi Wreder halted the Terps' streak with a hard fought 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Kristina Hovsepan at No. 5 singles.

The final two matches that eventually factored into Maryland's overall victory also dealt with tie-breaker action as Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka held off Catalina Rico 7-5, 6-1 for the clincher at sixth singles before Josie Rogers went toe-to-toe with Ekaterina Tour, the 120^th nationally ranked player, at the third position. Tour bested Rogers, 6-4, 7-6 (9).

"I think there are several great things that we can take from this match to further our improvement as a program," noted Puryear. "We now must turn our attention to this weekend's competitions against Richmond and St. Joe's. Both matches will present a stiff challenge for us. Richmond beat us last year and we had a tight one with St. Joe's."

Navy will be back on the courts in three days on Saturday, Jan. 28 with split-squad action versus Richmond and St. Joseph's. Half the team will travel to Richmond to face the Spiders in a 4 p.m. match, while the other half will stay in Annapolis for a 5 p.m. competition versus the Hawks at 5 p.m.

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Maryland defeats Navy, 5-2

Doubles - Navy wins the doubles point, 2-1 (Order of finish: 2,1,3)
No. 1: Claudia Mackenzie / Emily Louie-Meadors (N) def. Arnelle Sullivan / Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka (UM), 6-1
No. 2: Ekaterina Tour / Caroline Williams (UM) def. Catalina Rico / Aimee Dervishian (N), 6-0
No. 3: Rozel Hernandez / Carlee Conway (N) def. Cassandre Thebault / Olivia Gaudreault (UM), 6-4

Singles (Order of finish: 1,4,2,5,6,3)
No. 1: Alexandra Stanova (UM) def. Amanda Keller (N), 6-3, 6-4
No. 2: Arnelle Sullivan (UM) def. Claudia Mackenzie (N), 6-1, 6-4
No. 3: Ekaterina Tour (UM) def. Josie Rogers (N), 6-4, 7-6 (9)
No. 4: Cassandre Thebault (UM) def. Emily Louie-Meadors, 6-1, 6-3
No. 5: Ansofi Wreder (N) def. Kristina Hovsepyan (UM), 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 6: Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka (UM) def. Catalina Rico (N), 7-5, 6-1