ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Coming down to a third-set tiebreaker, senior Samantha Johns completed the Navy women's tennis team's rally on Sunday, as the Midshipmen (10-3) came back to defeat Dartmouth (4-4) in a 4-3 thriller at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
With five of the six singles matches going three sets, Navy pulled out the victory to bounce back after Saturday's loss at No. 47 West Virginia and remain undefeated at home this spring with a 10-0 record in Annapolis.
 
The Mids got out to an early lead by capturing the doubles point, as the No. 1 pairing of junior Emily Tannenbaum and freshman Olivia Fermo notched a 6-1 win against Alexandra Dewire and Elizabeth Fahrmeier while the No. 3 duo of Johns and rookie Anna Jordaan also grabbed a 6-1 victory by knocking off Brooke Hessa and Katie Weber. Juniors Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker attempted a late comeback to try and sweep doubles play, but the No. 2 Dartmouth pairing of Peyton Capuano and Michela Moore held off Lee and Shanker for a 6-4 win.
 
Dartmouth battled back at the start of singles action, as Caroline Lemcke tallied a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Lee in the No. 4 spot and Dewire followed in the No. 3 position via a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win against senior captain Stella Ribaudo. Tannenbaum overcame a tough first set to post a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 victory on the top court against Capuano and even the team score, but the Big Green briefly retook the lead when Weber beat Shanker, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in the No. 5 hole.
 
Junior Sylvia Eklund tied the match again in the No. 6 spot, battling back after dropping the first set to defeat Ujvala Jupalli, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Dropping her first set as well, Johns proved to be the clincher when she came back to take the second set and eventually outlast Moore in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory.
 
Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"We are very proud of the job the ladies did today. There were several things we talked about after the WVU match, and we feel that we did a great job of implementing the things we addressed. This was a hard-fought match, Dartmouth was tough and made us fight for everything, having been a top-10 team in the east region last year. We exhibited great tenacity and grit across the board. Many challenges remain in the next few weeks and we'll be working hard this week to prepare."
 
Match Notes
• Now with 77 career singles wins, Tannenbaum needs one more win to catch Darien Sears for third in the record book.
• Tannenbaum is also now fourth in the Navy record books with 135 career combined victories, needing one more win in either singles or doubles play to catch Sears' 136 combined wins that sit third.
• Navy is now 1-0 in the all-time series with Dartmouth, as the Mids now hold a 2-2 record against Ivy League opponents as well.
• Puryear now stands at 499 women's dual wins between his time at UMBC and Navy, needing one more victory to reach the 500-win plateau as a women's head coach.
• Tannenbaum is on an 11-match winning streak in singles play, while Johns and Eklund have each won their last four singles matches, respectively.
 
Up Next
Navy will have a trio of home matches at the Tose Family Tennis Center next weekend, hosting No. 54 Liberty on March 1 with an 1 p.m. opening serve, while March 2 features the Mids facing No. 66 Drexel at 10 a.m. before welcoming FDU for a 4 p.m. contest.