WILMINGTON, Del. – In its first road test of the 2022 dual season Saturday, the Navy women's tennis team (7-1) dropped a 7-0 decision to Delaware (3-1). The loss brings the Mids' season-opening win streak to an end at seven-straight matches.
Navy lost the doubles point for the first time this season after going 1-2 in doubles matches, missing out on the opening point of the match. In singles play, the Midshipmen were swept by the Blue Hens, with five of the six matches going to three sets.
"We lost a tough one today," said head coach
Keith Puryear. "Ladies battled but we came up short. We'll take this experience and use it to be better next time around."
The first decision of the doubles circuit came at the No. 3 position with Delaware's duo of Dominika Sujova and Alina Vasilenko downing
Corinne Farid (So., Columbia, Mo.) and
Parvathi Shanker (Fr., Napa, Calif.) (6-3) prior to Navy evening the doubles ledger with a victory from the pairing of
Katreina Corpuz (Sr., Ewa Beach, Hawai'i) and
Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) at the No. 2 position over Isabella Montana and Samantha Svendsen (6-3).
With the doubles point on the line, the Midshipmen duo of
Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) and
Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) erased a 3-1 deficit, ultimately tying the match at 6-6 to force a deciding tiebreak set.
In the tiebreak, the Blue Hens' Aliza Askarova and Juleta Honrubia came away with the win in a narrow 6-5 decision to secure the No. 1 doubles match (7-6) over Moore and Taggart in addition to the doubles point for Delaware.
In singles competition, Delaware extended its advantage when Sujova defeated Accola at the No. 6 position in straight sets (7-5, 7-6) prior to Tannenbaum falling in a three-set battle to Vasilenko (6-4, 0-6, 6-4) at the No. 3 spot, giving the Blue Hens a 3-0 lead.
Delaware secured the fourth and deciding point over the Midshipmen in the No. 5 singles match as Montana bested
Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) in three sets (3-6, 7-5, 7-5). Corpuz was defeated at the No. 4 position by Svendsen (4-6, 6-2, 6-2) to extend the Blue Hens' tally to 5-0 before Taggart fell to Askarova in a three-set competition (5-7, 7-5, 6-2) in the No. 1 singles match.
The final contest of the day to be decided was the No. 2 competition where Moore was bested by Honrubia (6-1, 6-7, 7-5) to secure a 7-0 decision in favor of Delaware.
In extra singles matches outside of the scored competition,
Sylvia Eklund (Fr., Bellevue, Wash.) fell to Delaware's Maria Constantine (6-1) while
Kate Lee (Fr., Concord, Calif.) earned a victory against Viva Laas (7-5).
UP NEXT
Navy will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season on Feb. 19 as it welcomes Brown and George Mason to the Tose Family Tennis Center. The Mids will take on the Patriots at 10 a.m. followed by a tilt against the Bears at 2 p.m.
