ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team completed competition at the Elon Invitational and the Milwaukee Tennis Classic Sunday, highlighted by freshman
Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) reaching the finals of the Maroon East Flight of the Elon Invitational.
Tannenbaum, taking part in the top singles draw of the Elon Invitational, defeated North Carolina-Greensboro's Erika Barquero in three sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) prior to taking down host Elon's Sibel Tanik (6-7, 6-4, 7-6) in a hard-fought semifinal match to advance to the championship round of the flight.
In the championship match of the Maroon East Flight, Tannenbaum was defeated by North Carolina-Charlotte's Lucia Quiterio in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) to end the terrific run for the freshman.
After reaching the singles flight A championship in her collegiate debut last weekend at the Bill & Sandra Moore Invitational, Tannenbaum has now reached the championship round of her respective singles flight in each of her first two career tournaments.
"This weekend was filled with competitive tennis," said assistant coach
Alessandra Pedergnana. "Every single member of the team that competed had the opportunity to play against high-level competitors to see where we are currently.
"At this stage of the season, results are secondary to our improvement and I like most of what I saw this weekend. There are still things we will continue to work on individually and as a team. These matches will go a long way in furthering the development of our players. We have set a good foundation which started last week at the Bill & Sandra Moore Invitational and continued here in Elon."
In addition to the effort from Tannenbaum,
Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) earned a victory over Elon's Olivia Archer (6-3, 7-5) in the Powell West Flight along with
Parvathi Shanker (Fr., Napa, Calif.) taking down North Carolina-Central's Hannah Gaines in the quarterfinal round of the Oak East Flight (6-3, 6-2).
Rounding out the top performers for Navy at the Elon Invitational was
Corinne Farid (So., Columbia, Mo.) who picked up two wins in the Phoenix West Flight. The first victory for Farid came in the semifinal round of the flight against East Carolina's Alisa Diercksen (6-0, 6-2) followed by picking up a win over North Carolina-Greensboro's McCollough Perry (7-5, 6-3) in straight sets.
In doubles competition, the Midshipmen pairing of Farid and Ribaudo reached the semifinal of the Powell East Flight, defeating North Carolina-Asheville's Beatrice Faureng and Kendall Byers (8-4) before falling to East Carolina's Anne Lou Champion and Ines Bachir (8-2).
Navy also took part in the prestigious Milwaukee Tennis Classic, with
Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) and
Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) taking part in the tournament for the first time in their respective careers.
"Milwaukee is always great tournament for us to compete at," said head coach
Keith Puryear. "It gives us an opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the nation. Both Jillian and Kacey did an unbelievable job of representing Navy women's tennis in every aspect this weekend.
"We can take confidence in the way we played and competed. I feel we were in every match, with all coming down to a few critical points in the game, set or match. Jillian won our first main draw win ever, while Kacey had a huge win in the back draw. I must thank Mr. Chas Mulcahy, the Milwaukee Tennis Classic staff and our host family Skip and Sibylle Tasker. Each time we've come here it has been a pleasure to compete."
The aforementioned Taggart opened the tournament for the Mids by defeating Marquette's Emilija Kojicic (6-1, 6-2) for Navy's first main draw win at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic in program history. Taggart was ultimately stopped in the round of 16 in the main singles draw, falling to Portland's Iva Zelic (6-0, 7-5).
Moore was defeated by Missouri's Ellie Wright in the opening round of the singles draw (6-4, 6-2) before moving to the consolation bracket and picking up a hard-fought, three-set victory over Southern California's Gabriella Lee (5-7, 6-3, 10-4).
Moore and Taggart also competed in the tournament's doubles competition, falling in the opening round of the 16-team draw to the Missouri pairing of Bronte Murgett and Marta Oliveira (7-6).
UP NEXT
Navy will return to action October 1-4 as it hosts the 2021 ITA Atlantic Region Championships.
