LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Navy women's tennis team wrapped up its third day of action at the 2023 Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Atlantic Regional Championship on Saturday, highlighted by junior Emily Tannenbaum becoming the first player in program history to reach the Round-of-16 in singles play at the Liberty Tennis Complex.
 
Tannenbaum was one of a program-record seven Midshipmen to compete in singles action on the weekend, while three doubles teams finished up competition on Friday.
 
Starting out action on Thursday with four Mids in the qualifying draw of singles play, as sophomore Sia Chaudry, junior Sylvia Eklund and senior Samantha Johns all secured opening-round victories before falling in the second round. Tannenbaum then opened the main draw with a win on Friday before advancing further on Saturday, while Chaudry and Johns were the lone Navy doubles pairing to reach Saturday's Round-of-32.
 
Tannenbaum opened her weekend with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against VCU's Tiziana Rossini in the Round-of-64 on Friday before beating Maryland's Maria Budin, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round. Battling for a spot in the regional quarterfinals, Tannenbaum's run was ended by Penn State's Sofiya Chekhlystova in a 6-2, 6-1 loss.
 
Starting Thursday off with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Norfolk State's Gabriela Davidescu, Chaudry was one win away from reaching the main draw before dropping a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 10-4 decision to Rossini in the second round of the qualifying bracket. Chaudry closed her stay in Lynchburg on Saturday with a 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 loss to Daniella O'Neill of Liberty in an extra match.
 
Opening up the ITA Regional by beating Liberty's Sadie Daavettila, 6-3, 1-6, 10-8, Eklund then fell to Maryland's Francesca Feodorov in the second round of qualifying, 6-1, 6-4, and ended the tournament with an 6-1, 6-0 extra-match loss to Marshall's Johanna Strom.
 
Johns used a 7-5, 1-6, 10-7 victory to knock off Richmond's Elizabeth Novak to begin the qualifying draw, but lost her next match to Maryland's Diya Challa, 6-1, 7-5, and then dropped a 6-2, 7-5 match to Liberty's Tiffany Nguyen in an extra contest on Saturday.
 
For senior captain Stella Ribaudo, she was defeated by Richmond's Carly Cohen on Thursday, 6-3, 6-4, in qualifying action, but responded by scoring a 6-7 (8), 6-1, 10-6 consolation victory later that over Loyola's Christine Richiez and got an extra-match win over Daavettila two days later, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5. Juniors Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker also competed in extra singles matches on Saturday, as Lee got a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Norfolk State's Laura Ruiz while Shanker was knocked off by Liberty's Maria Turchetto, 3-6, 7-5, 10-4.
 
In the main doubles draw, Chaudry and Johns got an opening-round 8-5 win over James Madison's Reka Matko and Hayley Glen on Friday, but were upended by Nguyen and her Liberty teammate Maria Juliana Parra Romero, 8-4, the next day. Ribaudo and Tannenbaum also competed Friday, falling to Daavettila and Esther Lovato by an 8-5 score, while the combination of Lee and Shanker also dropped an 8-3 decision to O'Neill and Marina Davtyan.
 
Coach Ale did an excellent job of helping Emily reach the round-of-16, a first for our program," said head coach Keith Puryear. "And with five players making the singles draw, coupled with three doubles teams, those were also firsts for the program. While our results were respectable, we are by no means satisfied. We see this as one more experience to learn and to grow from."
 
Navy closes out its fall slate on Oct. 27-29 at the Academy Challenge in Arlington, Va.