ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy women's tennis (4-2, 2-1 Patriot League) rolled to its first 7-0 victory of the season as the Midshipmen did not drop a set in the win over Loyola (8-5, 1-3 Patriot League) on Wednesday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
Navy has now won back-to-back matches in the Patriot League and the Midshipmen climb to 12-0 all-time against the Greyhounds.
"I would like to thank Coach McClure and his team for making the switch so that we could play today's match here at Navy," head coach
Keith Puryear stated. "We knew his team had had a very successful season thus far and they won a tough 4-3 match yesterday. They are always tough and tenacious, so we knew we would have to be as well. I thought we did a great job of building our points to create opportunities. As we continue through the rest of our conference matches, this will play a huge part in how successful we are in achieving our goals."
Partnering together for the first time this season,
Kacey Moore (Jr., Wellington, Fla.) and
Samantha Johns (Fr., Simpsonville, S.C.) got the dual started with a 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles against Taylor Kuncl and Olivia Tracey.
Corinne Farid (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) and
Tina Li (Sr., Wexford, Pa.) clinched the doubles point at No. 3 after beating Brooke Santoriello and Genevieve Wurtz in a 6-3 contest. The Midshipmen secured the doubles sweep after
Miranda Deng (Sr., North Potomac, Md.) and
Jillian Taggart (So., Fair Oaks, Calif.) outlasted Kateri Martin and Abigail Thornton, 7-6 (7-5), at the top-seeded doubles match.
"The doubles teams did a great job getting us on the board," Puryear commented. "Kacey and Sam played a very solid match at No. 2 to get the first point for us. They both served well and hit their spots on their serves. Once they secured a break, they did a good job of keeping the momentum rolling. Tina and Corinne established themselves early, had a hiccup, but recovered nicely to close out the set. Miranda and Jill did a good job of remaining composed after losing their lead to close out their set."
Navy grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in the match as
Meghana Komarraju (Jr., Vienna, Va.) and Moore rolled to straight-set wins at No. 3 and No. 2 singles, respectively. The junior duo each dropped just two games each in their matches. Komarraju won a 6-1, 6-1 contest against Tracey at No. 3 singles and then Moore earned a 6-2, 6-0 win in the second-seeded match over Thornton.
Taggart collected the match-clinching point for the Midshipmen at No. 1 singles against Martin, 6-4, 7-5.
In the final three matches on the court,
Stella Ribaudo (Fr., Chicago, Ill.) picked up a 6-1, 6-1 win over Sandra Aguirre at No. 5 singles and then
Katreina Corpuz (Jr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii) earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory at 4 singles over Abby Decker. Rounding at the dual at No. 6 singles,
Casey Accola (So., Winter Garden, Fla.) made her season debut and won a 6-3, 6-2 decision versus Julia Thompson to seal the Midshipmen's first 7-0 win of the spring season.
"In singles, I liked the focus everyone showed," Puryear said. "It was great to see Casey back in action. She has fought through some major adversity to be back on the court. Jill played a great match against Kateri Martin – who is a fighter and makes you earn every point. Meghana did a good job of sticking with some of the things we have been focusing on recently and it showed in her performance today. I would echo those sentiments for the others as well. Coach Ale and I felt that Kacey, Stella and Katreina all did a great job of focusing on those things we have emphasized the last few weeks in our practices.
"Our focus must now shift to our upcoming match in Lewisburg versus Bucknell on Sunday," Puryear concluded.
Navy caps off its week on Sunday against Bucknell with a 2 p.m. contest in Lewisburg, Pa.
