ORLANDO, Fla. – Starting its second trip to Florida this season the same way the first trip did, the Navy women's tennis team defeated a red-hot UConn squad by a 5-2 score on Monday evening at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
 
The victory moves the Midshipmen to 10-4 this season and 3-0 in matches played in Florida, while the Huskies dropped their second-straight contest to fall to 7-4 overall.
 
In a different order than usual, the dual match started with singles action as UConn took an early lead courtesy of Maria Constantinou, who knocked off junior Stella Ribaudo in the No. 2 spot via a 6-4, 6-2 final.
 
Navy responded with three singles victories in a row, as freshman Sia Chaudry beat Aleksandra Karamyshev in a 6-4, 6-2 battle on the No. 3 court, while junior Samantha Johns made quick work of Denise Lai on the sixth court with a 6-1, 6-2 win and sophomore Emily Tannenbaum notched a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Olivia Wright in the top singles spot.
 
UConn cut the lead to 3-2 when Cameron Didion fended off sophomore Parvathi Shanker in the first set to score a 7-5, 6-3 win on the No. 5 court, but Navy's senior captain, Casey Accola, clinched the win for the Mids when she outlasted the Huskies' No. 4 player Isabel Petri Bere in a three-setter that ended 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 10-8.
 
In doubles play, Constantinou and Wright opened with a 6-4 win over Navy's top pairing of Tannenbaum and Johns to put UConn ahead for the final point, but the Mids saw their No. 2 pairing of Chaudry and Accola finish off Karamyshev and Petri Bere by a similar 6-4 score to even doubles action. Coming down to the third court, the Navy sophomore duo of Sylvia Eklund and Kate Lee grinded out a 7-6 (7-5) victory over Didion and Doga Selen Takunyaci to hand the Mids the double point and cap off the 5-2 win.
 
Keith Puryear Post-Match Comments
"We beat a hot UConn team this evening that had won five straight at home before coming to Florida, so we knew they would be tough and well-coached coming in. Because of rain earlier in the day, we had to start with singles first, and Emily, Sam and Sia were all able to get their matches done in straight sets, while Casey did a good job to battle and win in three."
 
"While we lost at No. 1 doubles, I still felt that much of what we are working on was being utilized successfully at times. Casey and Sia did a good job to grab us one of the points needed at No. 2, and then Sylvia and Kate toughed out a tiebreaker at No. 3."
 
"There is much that we must continue to fine-tune as we head into tomorrow's matches and down the road towards our Patriot League season. Moving forward, it's important to keep learning from each and every match that we play, then being willing to implement what we learn into our games."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 1-0 all-time against UConn, as Monday marked the first meeting between the programs.
• Johns is 3-0 this season in singles action, while the pairing of Eklund and Lee have won their last two doubles matches.
 
Up Next
Navy closes out the spring break trip with a pair of matches on Tuesday, playing South Dakota at 11:30 a.m. before facing Niagara at 7 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.