ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After dropping its second-straight road match early in the season, the Midshipmen (3-2) bounced back at home over Maryland (0-1) on Sunday and grabbed a 4-3 win over the Terrapins at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
Navy has had a strong showing at home to start 2019 as it has won all three home matches thus far. Since the start of last season, the Midshipmen have now won 21 of their last 24 matches at home. The victory also marks the first time in program history Navy has beaten in-state rival Maryland.
"This match was symbolic of the weekend and it was a great team victory," head coach
Keith Puryear said after the match. "Every single one of the players, whether they were on the court or not, played a part in the win. We had challenged our team and there were certain things we wanted to challenge them with. The challenges were not just for today's match, but also for the overall theme of our season. Across the board our attitude, our effort level, our intensity was great and that is what I think got us to victory."
In doubles, the Terrapins got off to the early start en route to the doubles point after Eva Alexandrova and Katsiaryna Yemelyanenka outlasted
Catalina Rico (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) and
Amanda Cyr (So., Cary, N.C.), 6-3.
Navy finished doubles strong with wins at No. 3 and 2 doubles.
Miranda Deng (So., North Potomac, Md.) and
Kaylah Hodge (Jr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) won, 6-4, at No. 3 doubles over Saya Usai and Zoe Kulkarni. The Mids secured the doubles point following a 6-3 win from
Annalise Klopfer (Fr., Palm Harbor, Fla.) and
Aimee Dervishian (Jr., Milton, Ga.) against Millie Stretton and Amber Policare.
After capturing the doubles point, Navy carried that momentum into the singles portion of the dual with back-to-back wins. Hodge controlled her match at No. 2 singles to win 6-2, 6-3 over Yemelyanenka. Then at No. 5 singles, after winning the first set, 6-2, Deng rallied in the second set to earn a 7-5 victory and win in straight sets to push the Mids' lead to 3-0.
Maryland grabbed its first point of the match at No. 3 singles with Stretton winning the final five games of the second set to win, 6-2, 6-4, against Dervishian.
The final three matches on the court all went into the third set. Before the Terrapins could get any closer,
Ansofi Wreder (Jr., Miami, Fla.) clinched the match at top-seeded singles in the third set. Wreder was down a set and trailing in the second set before she rallied to force a decisive third set. Wreder started strong in the third set and was able to hold off Alexandrova to win, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
At No. 4 singles, Cyr won the opening set over Anastasiia Gevel, 6-3, but was unable to close out the match after Gevel grabbed the final two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
In the last match on the court, Rico lost the opening set and won the second set to force a deciding third set. The senior captain got off to slow start after dropping the first five games. However, Rico battled back to win five-straight games and tie the third set at five. Kulkarni was able to stop Rico's momentum in the third set two win two-straight games and win the final match, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, but the Midshipmen went on to win the dual, 4-3.
Following the match, Puryear also discussed the overall weekend with two close matches. "I think both matches this weekend showed the growth of our program," Puryear stated. "Yesterday's match we played all 12 players and everyone played a part. The overall level of play was extremely good and I think most of the matches against Richmond just came down to a couple points here and there. I was really pleased with what we did on the road and then for us to bounce back the way we did against Maryland speaks volumes of the character of our team."
Next weekend, Navy has a home and road doubleheader on tap. The Midshipmen will travel to Lynchburg, Va., to take on Liberty at 10 a.m. on Saturday and then host St. Joseph's at 5 p.m. at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
