ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Winners in nine of its last 10 matches, the Navy women's tennis team (16-2) will return to action 2 p.m. Thursday as it welcomes No. 30 Old Dominion (10-5) to the Tose Family Tennis Center. The contest will serve as a final tune-up for the Midshipmen before beginning Patriot League play over the weekend against Bucknell and Lehigh. Free, live statistics of the match will be available via NavySports.com.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs. OLD DOMINION
In three all-time meetings between the two programs, the Monarchs have a 3-0 record against the Midshipmen. Navy and Old Dominion last met during the 2018 season in Norfolk, with ODU earning a 7-0 victory.
NAVY PRIMER
Overall Record: 16-2
Home Record: 12-0
Away Record: 1-1
Neutral Record: 3-1
Patriot League Record: 0-0
Streak: W2
Head Coach: Keith Puryear I 14th Season at Navy, 33rd Overall (692-387)
SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN
LAST TIME OUT: Last time out, Navy won three of its four matches over spring break at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. The Midshipmen started their spring-break slate with a 5-0 victory over Millsaps, prior to dropping a two-point decision to Harvard, 4-2, to round out play on Tuesday. The Mids bounced back Wednesday with a pair of victories, a 5-2 win against Bradley and a 7-0 defeat of Merrimack.
HOT STREAKS: Senior team captain
Meghana Komarraju (Sr., Viena, Va.) has won 12-consecutive singles matches, tying the longest-such streak of her career. Additionally, the 12-straight victories in singles competition is tied for the third-longest winning streak in program history. Following Komarraju with the second-longest singles win streak on the team is newcomer
Kate Lee (Fr., Concord, Calif.), who has won each of her last eight singles matches.
WINNING WAYS: In singles competitions this dual season, the Midshipmen have an outstanding 83-25 record (.769), in addition to posting an equally impressive 46-5 mark (.902) as a team in doubles. Komarraju and
Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) sit just one-win shy of eclipsing the 20-win mark in singles, currently holding records of 19-5 and 19-9, respectively.
On the doubles circuit, the duo of Komarraju and
Katreina Corpuz (Sr., Ewa Beach, Hawai'i) has a team-high 15 wins, including a combined seven victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 position this dual season.
MILESTONES AHEAD: Navy head coach
Keith Puryear sits just eight wins shy of reaching 700 for his career. Now in his 14th season at the helm of the Midshipmen women's tennis program, Puryear also is just one-win short of 250 for his career at Navy.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: This season, the Midshipmen have played to a perfect 12-0 record at home. The 12-match home win streak ranks as the second-longest such streak in program history, trailing only the 2013 Navy women's tennis team that won 15-consecutive home matches. Additionally, the home-win streak ranks as the longest such streak to open a season in program history.
LEADING THE CHARGE: Ranking second behind the 19 victories by Komarraju and Tannenbaum in singles this season is the trio of
Sylvia Eklund (Fr., Bellevue, Wash.),
Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) and
Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) with 16 wins apiece. In doubles, Moore and Tannenbaum have a team-leading 18 wins apiece, while Corpuz and Komarraju each have 17 wins on the doubles circuit this season.
TOP-TANDEMS: The duo of Corpuz and Komarraju have combined to earn 15 wins this season, including having an 8-1 mark on the dual season. Moore and
Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) also enter Thursday having teamed up for a double-digit win total, having a 10-3 record this season.
ODU PRIMER
Overall Record: 10-5
Home Record: 7-0
Away Record: 2-3
Neutral Record: 1-2
ITA Ranking: No. 30
Conference USA Record: 0-0
Streak: W5
Head Coach: Dominic Manilla I 11th Season
SCOUTING THE MONARCHS
LAST TIME OUT: Last time out, Old Dominion earned a sweep of its doubleheader against Kennesaw State and Norfolk State, downing the Owls and Spartans in a pair of 7-0 decisions. The Monarchs took all 12 singles matches on the day in straight sets.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Monarchs enter play against the Mids with two players ranked in the ITA's top-125 national singles players, while also being ranked 30th in the ITA top-75 national team rankings. Yulia Starodubtseva enters Thursday as the No. 28 singles player in the nation, while Alexandra Viktorovich is currently the No. 76 singles player. Additionally, ODU boasts the No. 3 ranked doubles team in the ITA rankings, as Starodubtseva and Tatsiana Sasnouskaya have teamed up to record a 23-6 record this season.
LEADING THE CHARGE: Starodubtseva leads the way for ODU in singles, having an 11-1 mark this dual season playing exclusively at the No. 1 position. Sasnouskaya has seen the vast majority of her playing time at the No. 2 position, posting a record of 8-4. Rounding out the top-three singles performers for Old Dominion this spring is Sofia Johnson, who is tied for the most singles wins on the team with 11, 10 of which have come between the No. 4 and No. 5 positions.
TOP-TANDEMS: Sasnouskaya and Starodubtseva have combined for a 5-3 record on the doubles circuit in dual play at the No. 1 position, followed by Viktorovich and Sofia Johnson who have a perfect 4-0 record at the No. 2 spot.
UP NEXT
Following its tilt against nationally-ranked Old Dominion, Navy will open Patriot League play against Lehigh on Saturday, before welcoming Bucknell to Annapolis on Sunday.
