MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Navy women's tennis duo of
Ansofi Wreder and
Kaylah Hodge finished off their run at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic this weekend.
Wreder and Hodge lost both of their singles matches and the pair lost their lone doubles match in the doubles draw.
"It was a great learning experience for both Kaylah and Ansofi," head coach
Keith Puryear said following the tournament. "The level of play was extremely high and I thought they both played well. But because the margins of victory are so small, particularly in an event like this, we just need to do a better job of capitalizing when we developed opportunities in our matches."
Starting the tournament in the singles draw, Hodge battled back-and-forth with Colorado State's Emma Corwin. Hodge led late in the first set, but Corwin would come-from-behind and won the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3). The second set carried the same tune as the first, with Hodge and Corwin playing a tight match. However, Corwin would win the second set, 7-5, to send Hodge into the consolation bracket.
Wreder started her run in the singles bracket against Caroline Morton from Cincinnati. Morton grabbed the opening set, 6-1. Wreder found her rhythm in the second set and turned the tables to grab a 6-1 win set of her own. In the decisive third set, Morton won 6-2 against Wreder to steal the match.
Both Hodge and Wreder returned to action on day two of the tournament in the doubles draw. The Midshipmen drew the second-seeded team in the bracket in Sara Castellano and Lexi Keberle from Wisconsin. Castellano and Keberle ended the doubles run for Hodge and Wreder after Navy suffered an 8-2 setback.
In the singles consolation bracket, Hodge dropped her second match of the tournament to Martina Zerulo of Arkansas, 6-4, 6-3. Wreder also bowed out the draw in the first round of the consolation bracket after a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Maja Pietrowicz from Michigan State.
On Sunday in the finals, Sofia Blanco and Catherine Gulihur of Oklahoma State won the doubles draw, 8-3, while Purdue's Silvia Ambrosio (ranked 72nd in ITA rankings) captured the singles crown, 6-3, 7-5.
"This event is a very special, very unique ITA national tournament as each of the players is housed with a local family for the duration of the event," Puryear said. "The Milwaukee community does a great job supporting the event.
"It is an event that is steeped in history and we are proud to be associated with it. We would like to thank tournament director Chas Mulcahy for everything he continues to do for both Navy tennis programs. We would also like to thank John and Martha Kendler who served as our host family for the weekend."
Hodge and Wreder are set to join the rest of their teammates at Navy's next fall tournament in two weeks as the Midshipmen host the Navy Blue & Gold Invitational from October 5-7.
