ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (4-0) extended its season-opening win streak to four matches with a 6-1 victory over Villanova (0-2), followed by a 7-0 win against Morgan State (0-2) Sunday at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
The 4-0 record by the Midshipmen to start the 2022 spring season marks the second time in the last three years that they have accomplished the feat, in addition to matching the second-best start to a season in program history. The 4-0 start trails just the 2012 Navy women's tennis team that opened the season with 11 consecutive victories and finished with a record of 20-3.
Additionally, Navy has opened the spring dual season with a perfect 12-0 record in doubles competition, along with having an outstanding 22-2 mark as a team in singles play. Through their first four matches, the Midshipmen have outscored their opponents 26-2 that includes a pair of 7-0 victories.
"Coming in we expected two hard-fought matches," said head coach
Keith Puryear. "We made sure that everyone had a chance to participate and compete. I think today was a really good showing of the depth that we have on our team. Morgan State is perennially one of the top teams in the MEAC and Villanova is also one of the top teams in the Big East. Two hard-fought wins. I'll always say that there are still some things that we need to continue to focus on and work on.
"Today I thought we competed very well, we had a couple of matches where it would have been really easy for us to fall off the wagon. We stuck to our guns and did some of the little things to continue to put pressure on them and get back in the match. I'm really proud of the ladies, they've been working really hard. We have to continue to keep our eyes on the prize in terms of where we want to be come conference play when it rolls around in April."
Match One: Navy 6, Villanova 1
Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) and
Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) turned in a dominant performance at the No. 1 doubles position, netting a 6-2 victory over the Villanova duo of Annalise Klopfer and Emily Strande, to set the tone in a sweep of doubles competition for the Mids.
Following the lead of Moore and Taggart was the No. 3 doubles pairing of
Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) and
Parvathi Shanker (Fr., Napa, Calif.) who posted a 6-2 win over the Wildcats' Olivia Kapp and Bella Steffen to net the doubles point for Navy and an early 1-0 lead. Rounding out doubles play for the Mids was
Samantha Johns (So., Simpsonville, S.C.) and
Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) who secured a doubles' sweep with a hard-fought, 6-4, victory over Emma Brogan and Sabrina Grigorian.
The Mids showed a versatile attack in singles competition as Ribaudo, playing at the No. 5 singles, recorded a straight-set win over Steffen to extend the Navy advantage to 2-0. Following a loss at the No. 1 singles position by Taggart against Klopfer (6-1, 6-2) to reduce the Midshipmen upper hand to just a point, Tannenbaum brought the lead back to two points with a No. 3 singles win against Brogan (6-2, 6-2).
Navy secured its third victory of the season just moments later as Moore defeated Strande in the No. 2 singles match (6-4, 6-2). Following the match-clinching win by Moore, Johns battled back after losing the first set at the No. 4 position against Fisher to claim each of the final two sets (3-6, 7-5, 10-7) and extend Navy's advantage to 5-1. The final singles victory of the competition would come at the No. 6 spot as Shanker netted a three-set win of her own against Amanda Rivera-Gonzalez (6-7, 6-2, 10-5) to put a cap on the Midshipmen's 6-1 decision over the Wildcats.
Match Two: Navy 7, Morgan State 0
To round out Sunday's twin bill, the Midshipmen recorded their second sweep of doubles competition of the day. The pairing of
Katreina Corpuz (Sr., Ewa Beach, Hawai'i) and
Meghana Komarraju (Sr., Vienna, Va.) recorded a dominant effort at the No. 1 doubles position, earning a 6-0 decision over Morgan State's Averiana Mitchell and Asmara Rose.
Casey Accola (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.) and
Corinne Farid (So., Columbia, Mo.) secured the doubles point and a 1-0 lead for Navy at the No. 2 doubles, downing the duo of Nolwenn Cardoso and Hannah Smith, 6-2.
Sylvia Eklund (Fr., Bellevue, Wash.) and
Kate Lee (Fr., Concord, Calif.) secured the second sweep of doubles play on the day for the Mids, defeating the Bear's Stefania Moysiadi and Ana Torrente, 6-3.
In singles play, Komarraju extended the Navy lead to 2-0 as the senior recorded a straight-set decision over Rose (6-4, 6-2) at the No. 2 singles position. Accola followed Komarraju with a victory at No. 4 singles, defeating Ana Torrente (6-3, 6-3) to push the Navy advantage to 3-0.
Victory was secured for the Midshipmen just moments later as Lee clinched the fourth and deciding point in a win over Moysidai (7-5, 6-3). Finishing just behind Lee was Farid who fought back from a 6-0 loss in the first set of the No. 3 singles competition to win each of the next two sets (6-3, 6-3) and the match.
With its lead at 5-0, Navy continued to add to its advantage when Corpuz defeated Mitchell in straight sets (6-2, 7-6). The No. 1 singles match included a ferocious comeback from Corpuz in the second set, erasing a 4-2 deficit prior to ultimately taking the set by a point.
In the final singles match of the day, Eklund navigated around a deficit of her own in the No. 5 singles competition. Trailing by a score of 5-2, Eklund battled back to force a set tiebreak prior to clinching a 7-6 victory and a straight-set win over Cardoso.
UP NEXT
Navy is scheduled to return to action Feb. 5 as it welcomes Georgetown (9 a.m.) and Saint Joseph's (1 p.m.) to the Tose Family Tennis Center.
