ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy women's tennis (4-0) earned a pair of 6-1 victories on Sunday after defeating Villanova (1-1) and Richmond (1-3) at the Tose Family Tennis Center. The Midshipmen's 4-0 start to the season is their best start since the 2012 spring season and is just the second time in program history Navy has won its first four matches of the year.
 
The Midshipmen continue to control its home court in the all-time series against both the Wildcats and Spiders. Navy is now 9-0 all-time against Villanova at home and 4-1 in Annapolis against Richmond.
 
"Today's play speaks volumes about who we are as a team and our character," head coach Keith Puryear said. "To beat two teams of the caliber of Richmond – who finished runners up in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament – and Villanova – who beat Marquette last year – is great. We played everyone today and I think it says a lot about who we are as a team and the direction we are heading. 
 
"We knew both matches were going to be hard-fought and I was pleased with everyone's play, the way we fought, our conditioning and everything across the board. There are always things we need to continue to work on but this weekend we want to commend the players for their energy and their effort. Even the individuals who were not playing at the time supported their teammates and that was great to see."
 
Navy 6, Villanova 1
 
In a hard-fought match from the get-go, Villanova started the dual with a 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles to grab the early advantage in the race for the doubles point. However, Navy rallied and won the final two doubles contests to win the doubles point and grab the early 1-0 lead. The Midshipmen's freshman pair of Irene Norman (Aurora, Ohio) and Jillian Taggart (Fair Oaks, Calif.) won a 6-3 decision over Sabina Grigiorian and Olivia Kapp at No. 3 doubles. In the second-seeded doubles match, Aimee Dervishian (Sr., Milton, Ga.) and Annalise Klopfer (So., Palm Harbor, Fla.) posted a 6-4 victory over Carina Burdick and Lexi DeNucci to clinch the doubles point for Navy.
 
Holding a 1-0 lead at the start of singles competition, freshman Casey Accola (Winter Garden, Fla.) made her collegiate debut with a straight-set victory at No. 4 singles against Burdick, 6-3, 6-1. Katreina Corpuz (So., Ewa Beach, Hawaii) extended Navy's lead to 2-0 following a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles against DeNucci. The match-clinching point for the Midshipmen came at No. 3 singles with Klopfer finishing off her day with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against Kaylan Rotman.
 
The final three matches on the court each went into three sets. After dropping the first set at No. 1 singles, Meghana Komarraju (So., Vienna, Va.) rallied over the final two sets to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. In a back-and-forth match at No. 6 singles, senior captain Danika Kahatapitiya (Virginia Beach, Va.) earned a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory against Kapp to push Navy's lead to 6-0. The Midshipmen just missed their third-straight sweep of the season after Tina Li (Jr., Wexford, Pa.) was edged at No. 5 by Caitlin Fisher, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, for Villanova's lone point of the day as Navy earned a 6-1 win.
 
Navy 6, Richmond 1
 
In the second match of the day for the Midshipmen, they got the early advantage for the doubles point with Samantha Choi (Fr., Warrenville, Ill.) and Li teaming up to grab a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles. Then at No. 2 doubles, Accola and Kaylah Hodge (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) held off Lea Owens and Dessi Zlateva to earn a 6-4 win and seal the doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, the sophomore duo of Corpuz and Komarraju trailed 4-1 to Emily Dunbar and Kiana Marshall. However, the Midshipmen rallied to win six of the final seven games to earn a 7-5 decision at No. 1 as Navy swept all three doubles affairs.
 
Navy carried the momentum from the doubles sweep to start singles. Brooke Bogdanovich (Jr., Suwanee, Ga.) rallied in the first set to win 7-5 and then rolled in the second set with a 6-0 win to sweep Andrea Campodonico at No. 6 singles. Right after Navy took a 2-0 lead, its lead was extended to three following Taggart's straight-set win at No. 3. Taggart trailed 5-2 in the first set but came from behind and won the next five games to take the opening set, 7-5. In the second set, Taggart won the match with a 6-3 win over Marshall.
 
The come-from-behind set wins continued for Navy with the clinching match at No. 5 singles. Dervishian started her singles match against Helene Heiberg with a 6-0 win in set one. Dervishian then fell behind 5-4 to Heiberg in the second set but Dervishian was victorious over the final three games to win the second set 7-5 and seal the match for Navy.
 
With the match in hand, Choi – ranked 114th in the country – picked up a three-set victory to climb to 11-0 on the season after beating Owens at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Richmond grabbed its first and only point of the contest at No. 1 singles with Dunbar edging out Hodge in straight sets, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. The last match on the court featured a back-and-forth battle between Kacey Moore (So., Wellington, Fla.) and Zlateva at the second-seeded singles match. After Zlateva won the opening set, 6-3, Moore fought back and won the final two sets, 6-3, 6-4, as the Midshipmen secured their second 6-1 victory on Sunday.
 
"I think the team stepped up today and we challenged them in different positions in the lineup," assistant coach Alessandra Pedergnana commented. "I think the hard work throughout the week in something that paid dividends today. However, win or lose these matches, I would have said the same thing because they competed really well point-to-point and that is something that we need moving forward. I am really proud of the team because these are two really solid teams and they came to play today. That is just a testament to all of their hard work."
 
Navy continues its homestand next Saturday with home matches against Liberty and Saint Joseph's at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.