BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Navy women's tennis team concluded competition at the ITA Atlantic Regional on Sunday evening as the Midshipmen had six competitors in the tournament field.
Kacey Moore (So., Wellington, Fla.) and
Kaylah Hodge (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) each advanced to the Round of 32 in the main singles draw, while Hodge and
Amanda Cyr (Jr., Cary, N.C.) appeared in the Round of 16 in the doubles draw.
"We thank Terry Ann Zawacki and the Virginia Tech staff for running a great event," head coach
Keith Puryear said following the weekend. "For us, this was the most successful regional to date. Never before had one Navy player advanced through the qualifying and this weekend we had three."
The Midshipmen's doubles team of Cyr and Hodge tied the program record for deepest doubles run in the ITA Regional as they picked up a pair of wins to advance to the Round of 16, which matches Navy's Round of 16 appearance in 2016. Navy's duo first picked up an 8-5 win over Daniela Latoni and Laurel Shymansky of Duquesne. In the second round, the Midshipmen upset the 10th-seeded pair from Virginia Tech, Nika Kozar and Nina Sorkin, 8-6.
Cyr and Hodge looked for their second-straight upset against eighth-seeded Shahar Biran and Alexandra Viktorovich of Old Dominion but the Midshipmen dropped an 8-3 contest to end their run in the doubles draw.
"Before Kaylah pulled out with an injury in the singles draw, she and Amanda won two matches in doubles, including our first seeded win at the regional in doubles, before losing in their third match to an Old Dominion team that went on to beat the No. 3 seed in the next round," Puryear stated about the Navy doubles team.
In singles, Hodge was the lone Navy individual to earn a spot in the main draw as Moore,
Annalise Klopfer (So., Palm Harbor, Fla.),
Meghana Komarraju (So., Vienna, Va.) and
Jillian Taggart (Fr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) had to battle through qualifying matches to earn a spot in the main draw.
Needing two victories to move into the main draw Komarraju, Moore and Taggart all went 2-0 and Klopfer lost in straight sets to Delaware's Caragh Courtney – who was the No. 1 seed in the qualifiers. As the No. 8 seed, Moore defeated Shene Disbergen (6-0, 7-6 (8-6)) and Liberty's Esther Lovato (7-6 (7-3), 6-1) to earn her spot in the main draw. Komarraju won a three-set match against Andrea Campodonico of Richmond (2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3) and then swept Nicole Roe of West Virginia, 6-3, 6-1, to move into the main draw. Taggart was the final Mid to advance out of the qualifying draw with a pair of straight-set wins against Delaware's Viva Laas (7-5, 6-2) and Liberty's Tiffany Nguyen (7-6 (7-4), 6-1).
"Kacey came in as the eighth seed and advanced after beating an individual from Virginia Tech, then a tough player from Liberty," Puryear commented on the qualification draw. "Jillian defeated a tough player from Delaware and another very good freshman from Liberty. While Annalise lost to the top seed in qualifying, Meghana was able to advance with two solid matches. Meghana had to fight back from a set down in her first match to battle through qualifying."
With four individuals in the single-elimination main draw for singles, Taggart was pitted against the top-seed and defending regional champion, Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado of VCU. Taggart was unable to upset Diaz-Delgado – who is ranked 31st in the nation – in a 6-1, 6-3 affair. Komarraju went up against 16th-seeded Rosie Cheng of William & Mary and after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6), Komarraju bowed out of the draw with a 6-0 loss in the second set.
Hodge and Moore both picked up wins in the Round of 64 in the main draw to keep the Midshipmen alive in the tournament. Hodge's first singles match went three sets but the senior upended Agata Mikos of Georgetown, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Hodge's tournament came to a close in the Round of 32 after 13th-seeded Gabby O'Gorman of Penn State won via walkover.
"The success from qualifying continued into the main draw," Puryear continued on singles play. "Kaylah beat the top player from Georgetown in three sets before pulling out of the tournament with a slight injury."
Moore upset 11th-seeded Biran of Old Dominion in a straight-set contest, 6-4, 7-5, as she moved to 3-0 at the regional. Moore looked to continue her run in the main singles draw but dropped a three-set contest, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2, against West Virginia's Anastasiia Bovolskaya as she ended the tournament in the Round of 32.
"Kacey followed up her advancement from qualifying with the biggest singles win to date for our program with a win over the No. 11 seed from a nationally ranked Old Dominion team. Kacey then lost a tough three-setter to West Virginia.
"Across the board, we competed well and showed the strides made in our improvement throughout the fall season," Puryear concluded. "However, we cannot be satisfied because as well as we did, we feel we could have accomplished even more. We now look forward to continuing our work in preparation for the spring season."
The Midshipmen have concluded their fall tournament slate and will be back in action in 2020 for their dual match schedule.
