ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (8-3) continues its 12-match homestand this weekend as it hosts Howard (1-3) and George Washington (2-1) at the Tose Family Tennis Center on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
The Midshipmen are five matches into their homestand and they have won all five contests. During the winning streak, Navy has won the doubles points each time and it has also scored at least six team points in each match. In all eight home matches this season, Navy has won the doubles point and tallied six team points on seven occasions.
Last weekend, the Midshipmen swept a doubleheader against Mount St. Mary's and Fairleigh Dickinson. Navy grabbed its first 7-0 victory of the season against Mount St. Mary's after it did not drop a single set in singles competition and swept all three doubles matches. The Midshipmen then defeated Fairleigh Dickinson after winning all three doubles matches and taking the first five singles matches.
Aimee Dervishian paced Navy with a 2-0 record, which included her first career victory at No. 1 singles after she made her season debut at the No. 1 spot against Mount St. Mary's. Dervishian also earned a victory at No. 2 doubles to earn herself Patriot League Women's Tennis Player of the Week honors earlier this week.
Kacey Moore picked up three wins for the Midshipmen last weekend with a pair of singles victories after playing No. 4 against Mount St. Mary's and No. 5 against Fairleigh Dickinson. Moore also teamed up with
Tina Li at No. 3 doubles against Mount St. Mary's to complete her 3-0 weekend. Li also posted a 3-0 mark with two doubles victories to go along with a win at No. 5 singles against Mount St. Mary's.
Overall, Moore has the most singles wins for the Midshipmen this season with 14, which includes a 5-1 mark in dual matches.
Ansofi Wreder is just behind with 12 singles wins this campaign. In doubles competition,
Annalise Klopfer and
Miranda Deng are neck-in-neck with 14 and 13 wins, respectively.
Howard comes into Saturday's match with a 1-3 record and dropped a 7-0 contest to Fairleigh Dickinson last weekend in Annapolis. The Bison's lone dual victory came against Mount St. Mary's, 4-3. The doubles team of Nicole Hutchison and Christina Joyner have paced Howard with a record of 2-2, while Aria Ragas and Kinda Nasef are the only other pair to win a doubles match this season. In singles, the Bison have four individuals with a victory as the team has gone 4-19 in the spring.
George Washington is 2-1 on the year after winning its last two matches against Maryland, 6-1, and Howard, 6-0. The Colonials dropped their season-opening match on the road against Penn State, 7-0. Melis Bayraktaroglu and Sara Grubac are tied for the team lead with seven singles wins apiece in the early portion of the season. In dual matches, George Washington has five individuals with 2-1 records. Maria Siopacha and Bayraktaroglu are 4-6 as a team with the four victories leading all doubles pairs.
Last season, Navy swept Howard at home to complete the month of February. Throughout the entire dual, the Midshipmen dropped just one set en route to the shutout. On the road against George Washington last season, the Midshipmen escaped with a 4-3 victory after current student assistant coach
Carlee Conway clinched the match at No. 4 singles in a three-set match.
Navy starts its doubleheader on Saturday against Howard at 10 a.m. and then takes on George Washington at 2 p.m. inside the Tose Family Tennis Center.
