TAMPA, Fla. – The Navy women's tennis team had a tough battle to secure its seventh-straight victory, but the Midshipmen were able to pull it out with a 4-3 win over the University of Tampa on Friday afternoon at the Naimoli and Young Family Tennis Complex in Tampa, Fla.
Navy moves to 7-2 with the victory, as the current seven-win stretch marks the 13th time in program history that the Mids have won seven-or-more consecutive matches. The host Spartans, who entered Friday ranked 14th in the ITA national Division II poll, shifted to 0-2 with the loss.
A back-and-forth contest started right away in doubles action, as the top Tampa duo of Raquel Amaro and Victoria Sanchez knocked off junior
Samantha Johns and sophomore
Emily Tannenbaum, 6-1, but the Mids responded on the No. 3 court when sophomores
Kate Lee and
Parvathi Shanker defeated the Spartans' Aleks Topalovic and Rebecca Presley by a 6-2 score.
Coming down to the No. 2 court, the Navy pairing of senior captain
Casey Accola and freshman
Sia Chaudry topped UT's Anine Wilberg and Savannah Williams, 6-4, to secure the doubles point and pick up their third-straight win together.
In singles competition, Topalovic evened the scoring for Tampa when she beat Accola, 7-5, 6-2, at the No. 4 spot. Shanker handed Navy the lead right back with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over Wilberg on the fifth court, notching her team-leading sixth-straight singles win.
Tampa once again tied the team score when Presley wrapped up a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 comeback win against the No. 6 Navy player in
Sylvia Eklund. The Spartans then took their first lead of the afternoon when Sanchez outlasted junior
Stella Ribaudo on the second court, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, but Chaudry won her No. 3 singles matchup against Williams by a 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 final.
Down to the top court, Tannenbaum battled her way back after dropping the opening set, rallying to post a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Amaro that handed the victory to Navy.
The win marked No. 705 overall for
Keith Puryear, as the Navy head coach has now posted seven-or-more wins in each of the last 26 seasons as a women's coach.
The Mids now have a 34-31 all-time record in true road matches.
Next Up
Navy is set to play Air Force at 5 p.m. on Saturday as part of the College MatchDay event at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The Mids and Falcons can be seen live on ESPN+ alongside the Navy and Air Force men's tennis teams.
