ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (2-0) opened its 2022 spring dual schedule with a sweep of its Saturday doubleheader against Saint Francis (0-1) and St. Bonaventure (0-1) at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
The Midshipmen started the day with a 6-1 victory over the Red Flash, improving their all-time record against Saint Francis to 12-0 that includes winning each of the last four matches by a combined score of 26-2. Navy then capped off its day with a 7-0 win against St. Bonaventure, extending its win streak against the Bonnies to seven-straight matches.
"It felt good to get out and compete again," said head coach
Keith Puryear. "Today was a good start with two wins, but as coaches and players, we still know there is still much work left to be done. We are looking forward to preparing for next week's challenges."
Match One: Navy 6, Saint Francis 1
In its first match of the 2022 spring dual season, Navy got off to a strong start in doubles play that ultimately propelled the Mids to a dominant win over Saint Francis. The No. 1 doubles pairing of
Samantha Johns (So., Simpsonville, S.C.) and newcomer
Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) set the tone with a 6-0 victory over the Red Flash duo of Dominique Yeo and Anouk Ma-Ajong.
Navy clinched the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead in the match when
Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) and
Parvathi Shanker (Fr., Napa, Calif.) netted a 6-2 victory over Romina Cutipa and Valeria Vinces in the third-seeded doubles match. The Midshipmen completed the sweep of doubles competition when
Casey Accola (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.) and
Corinne Farid (So., Columbia, Mo.) earned a hard-fought, 7-6, win at No. 2 doubles against Bente Vandeputte and Anoek Pruijmboom.
The Mids continued their strong play in singles competition, winning four matches in straight sets. After helping secure the doubles point for Navy, Ribaudo earned the first singles victory of the day and extended the Midshipmen's lead to 2-0 at the No. 4 singles position (6-1, 6-3) over Cutipa. Shanker brought the Mids closer to a match victory, earning a straight-set win at No. 6 singles (6-4, 6-0) against Pruijmboom.
Farid earned the clinching point for the Mids at the No. 5 singles, downing Vinces in straight sets (6-2, 7-5). With the match in hand, Johns closed out a victory at No. 2 singles over Ma-Ajong (6-1, 7-5) prior to Tannenbaum earning the final singles win of the day for the Mids in a three-set battle at the No. 1 singles position against Yeo (6-1, 4-6, 10-6).
The Red Flash took their lone point of the day with a victory at No. 3 singles as Bente Vandeputte defeated Accola in three sets (6-1, 1-6, 6-0).
Match Two: Navy 7, St. Bonaventure 0
In the final match of the weekend for the Midshipmen, they put forth a dominant effort against the Bonnies in which they did not drop a set in either doubles or singles play.
Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) and
Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) made quick work of the No. 1 doubles position with a 6-0 win.
The doubles point would go to Navy just minutes later when the No. 2 doubles pairing of
Katreina Corpuz (Sr., Ewa Beach, Hawai'i) and
Meghana Komarraju (Sr., Vienna, Va.) tallied a 6-1 victory. With the doubles point clinched,
Sylvia Eklund (Fr., Bellevue, Wash.) and
Kate Lee (Fr., Concord, Calif.) completed the sweep of the doubles competition with a 7-5 win.
The Mids continued their dominant effort in singles play, with Lee capturing a straight-set win at the No. 6 singles position (6-0, 6-1) against Amara Young prior to Komarraju compiling her first singles victory of the dual season at No. 4 singles (6-2, 6-1) over Emily Stanley to put Navy just a point away from clinching the match.
The match-clinching victory would come at the No. 5 singles position as Eklund tallied a straight-set win (6-2, 6-0) over Paula Veililla. With its second victory of the day in hand, Moore extended the Navy lead to 5-0 by taking down Anastasia Guanova at the No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-2) prior to Taggart netting a No. 1 singles victory over Amelia Haley in straight sets (6-4, 6-0).
Corpuz earned the final win of the day for the Mids, taking down Alexandra Jansson at the No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-0) to secure a 7-0 victory for Navy and a sweep of Saturday's twin bill.
UP NEXT
Navy is back home Jan. 30 as it welcomes Villanova and Morgan State to the Tose Family Tennis Center. The Mids are scheduled to take on the Wildcats at 9 a.m. followed by a tilt against the Bears at 2 p.m.
