ORLANDO, Fla. – The Navy women's tennis team (14-2) opened its four-match spring break schedule with a 5-0 win against Millsaps (4-4), prior to dropping a 4-2 decision to Harvard (6-6) Tuesday at the United States Tennis Association National Campus in Orlando.
 
In its first match of the day, a five-point decision over Millsaps, Navy clinched its 14th win in 15 matches, marking only the third time in program history it has accomplished the feat (2012, 2020). Additionally, following their two matches on Tuesday, the Midshipmen improved to 71-22 on the dual season in singles matches, along with being 40-5 in doubles.

"We took some time to adjust initially in doubles," said head coach Keith Puryear of the match against Millsaps. "Then we were able to ride things out to get the point in doubles. Then our depth really showed, with the four, five and six clinching things to bring home the win." 

"We really liked the way we came out in doubles," said Puryear in regard to the match against Harvard. "We did a good job of using what we've emphasized throughout the spring season. Once singles started, Harvard did a good job of switching the momentum of the match, winning five of the six matchups. Meghana (Komarraju) did a good job, scrapping out hers in straight sets. While the rest did a good job of fighting back to either win or tighten things up to compete better in the second set. This match had many good takeaways, which we will use for further improvement down the road." 
 
Match One: Navy 5, Millsaps 0
In its first match of the day, Navy posted a sweep of doubles competition, prior to winning each of the four completed singles contests to earn a 5-0 victory in the opener of its Tuesday twin bill.
 
The pairing of Corinne Farid (So., Columbia, Mo.) and Parvathi Shanker (Fr., Napa, Calif.) earned a 6-0 victory in the No. 1 match over the Major's Marissa Brown and Kiana Everhart. The doubles point was secured just moments later as Sylvia Eklund (Fr., Bellevue, Wash.) and Kate Lee (Fr., Concord, Calif.) downed Amelia Chrisy and Madison Williams in the No. 3 competition (6-3), giving the Mids an early 1-0 lead.
 
The No. 2 doubles match, featuring the team of Samantha Johns (So., Simpsonville, S.C.) and Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) went unfinished following the clinching of the doubles point by the Midshipmen.
 
In singles play, Shanker extended the Navy advantage to 2-0 with a victory over Kelly Morris Clayton in the No. 4 match (6-0, 6-0), prior to Lee downing Chrisy in the No. 5 competition in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) to put the Mids one-point shy of match victory.
 
Navy would secure its 14th victory of the season, and seventh win in a row, as Farid defeated Mary Dabadie in at the No. 6 position (6-1, 6-1). Following the match-clinching point by Farid, Ribaudo secured the fifth and final point of the contest for the Mids, defeating Camille Fremaux in a straight-set decision at the No. 1 spot (6-2, 6-1).
 
The remaining two singles matches, featuring Casey Accola (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.) at the No. 2 position and Eklund at the No. 3, went unfinished with each of the two Midshipman leading in the second set of their respective contests.
 
Match Two: Harvard 4, Navy 2
In the second match of the afternoon, Navy matched up against Harvard, ultimately falling to the Crimson in a highly-contested match by a tally of 4-2.
 
The loss snapped a seven-match win streak for the Midshipmen, in addition to marking only its second loss of the 2022 dual season. The 14 wins before recording its second loss of the season marked the third-longest such streak in program history.
 
In doubles competition, Accola and Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) earned a 6-3 victory over the Crimson's Amy Huang and Rachel Eason, prior to Johns and Meghana Komarraju (Sr., Vienna, Va.) tallying a two-point win over Annika Bassey and Maxi Duncan (7-5) at the No. 3 position to clinch the doubles point.
 
With a 1-0 lead in hand heading into singles play, the Midshipmen were immediately met by resistance from Harvard. Sany Gawande tallied a straight-set victory over Ribaudo (6-0, 6-3) at the No. 5 match to even the score at 1-1, prior to Komarraju downing Rachel Lim in the No. 4 match (6-1, 6-2) to put the Mids back in front at 2-1.
 
In the No. 6 singles competition, Accola dropped a straight-set decision to Iveta Daujotaite (6-3, 7-5) to bring the match back to a tie at 2-2, followed by the Crimson going ahead 3-2 with a win by Duncan over Tannenbaum at the No. 2 position (6-4, 3-6, 10-8).
 
Harvard ultimately secured a victory over the Midshipmen, and snapped Navy's seven-match win streak, with a win at the No. 3 match as Angel You defeated Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) in a three-set battle (6-1, 5-7, 10-4).
 
The lone singles match to go unfinished in the contest was at the No. 1 position, as Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) took on the Crimson's Sophia Ho. The pair split the two first sets of the match, with Ho taking the first set, 6-2, followed by a rebound from Taggart in the second set, 7-6.
 
UP NEXT
Navy will have a quick turnaround as it returns to action Wednesday with a pair of non-conference matches. The Midshipmen are slated to take on Bradley (4-8) at 8 a.m., before a contest against Merrimack (3-4) at 11:30 a.m.