ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In a day honoring captain Casey Accola, the Midshipmen's lone senior helped the Navy women's tennis team (17-4) extend its winning streak to eight matches with a 4-2 victory over a talented LIU squad (8-10) on Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
In addition to Accola being honored by the program before the match and then winning her doubles and singles matches, the end of the Saturday matinee saw sophomore Emily Tannenbaum etch her name in the program's single-season history books, as Tannenbaum tied the program record for combined wins in a season at 48 (27 singles, 21 doubles).
 
While the Sharks opened the morning doubles competition with their No. 2 pairing Leo Boisseau and Marion Deloziere registering a 6-3 win over the sophomore duo of Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker, the Mids responded by Accola and junior Corinne Farid teaming up for a 6-4 victory against Saki Oyama and Bianca Compuesto on the third court. Coming down to the No. 1 matchup, Tannenbaum and junior Samantha Johns once again got in the win column by beating Victoria Erechtchenko and Elinor Storkaas, 6-4, and grabbing the doubles point for Navy.
 
Accola then extended the Navy edge to begin singles play by quickly finishing off Oyama, 6-1, 6-0, at the No. 3 position, but LIU made it 2-2 when Boisseau scored a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win over freshman Sia Chaudry in the No. 2 spot and Compuesto knocked off Shanker by a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) score on the fourth court.
 
Navy did not let LIU take the lead, though, as sophomore Sylvia Eklund defeated Deloziere in a 7-5, 6-1 battle on the No. 5 court, while Tannenbaum clinched the match point for the Mids when she earned a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory against Erechtchenko in the top spot.
 
Keith Puryear Post-Match Comments
"Congrats to the ladies for another tough, hard-fought win. LIU's record is deceptive, as they've played an extremely tough schedule and came in very battle-tested. That team is a potential NCAA-qualifying team, so we knew to expect a tough match, which is what we got."
 
"We were tested at every spot but, win or lose, we did a good job of battling all match long. Emily and Sylvia both fought hard to win in straight sets to get us two singles points, but it was Casey who led the way on this Senior day match, winning both her singles and doubles matches. She has done an unbelievable job with our team this year under very tough circumstances, so it was great to see her shine so bright today. She's worked so hard to be the best leader that she could be for us, as kudos go out to her."
 
"We must now look towards the stretch run ahead, with two very challenging Patriot League matches this week to end the regular season. Loyola always plays us tough at their home, followed by a nationally-ranked Boston team."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 3-0 all-time against LIU.
• Tannenbaum's 48 combined wins this season matched Logan Antill's 48-win mark from 2013, when Antill claimed 25 singles matches and 23 doubles contests.
• With 27 singles wins on the campaign, Tannenbaum now sits tied for second in single-season program history, matching former teammate Kacey Moore's 27 singles victories in 2019.
• Tannenbaum has now won her last eight singles matches, while Accola has a six-match singles winning streak.
• The eight-match winning streak matches the season high for Navy, as the Mids previously won eight straight matches from Jan. 21 to Feb. 18.
 
Up Next
Navy heads to Loyola Maryland for a 3 p.m. Patriot League match on Wednesday, April 12.