ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (12-4) got back to its winning ways on Saturday after a close loss the day prior, picking up a 5-2 victory over Drexel (5-2) and a 6-1 win against FDU (3-3) at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
Earning the doubleheader sweep, the Midshipmen saw head coach Keith Puryear reach the 500-win milestone as a women's coach while junior Emily Tannenbaum extended her singles winning streak to the third longest in program history.
 
Drexel Recap
Navy began the morning with a pair of doubles victories to take an early 1-0 team lead, as Tannenbaum and freshman Olivia Fermo notched a 6-4 win over Drexel's No. 2 pairing of Elisa Rigazio and Maddie Ricardo, while Makaila Cheng and Julia Lee posted a 6-4 victory in the No. 3 spot against Adva Dabah and Isabel Cabrerizo. Drexel prevented the doubles sweep, with No. 1 duo Renata Lombera and Lorie Lemongo defeating sophomore Sia Chaudry and senior Samantha Johns in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (13-11).
 
Fermo got to work right away in singles action, scoring a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dabah in the No. 6 position, but Rigazio beat senior captain Stella Ribaudo, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot to keep the Dragons in it. Junior Parvathi Shanker helped extend the lead with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on the fourth court against Cabrerizo, while Ricardo responded with a 6-3, 7-5 winning decision over junior Sylvia Eklund. Coming down to a third set on the top two courts, Tannenbaum knocked off Lemonga, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, while Johns won by retirement in a 7-5, 4-6, 5-1 match over Lombera.
 
FDU Recap
The Mids carried its strong doubles play into the evening contest against the Knights, as Eklund and rookie Anna Jordaan took care of business against No. 2 pair Gauri Bhagia and Alena Kubanova with a 6-2 win, and freshmen Julia Lee and Manci Pal posted a 6-4 win in the No. 3 spot against Mireia Turro and Valentina Silva. Finishing off the doubles sweep was Shanker and classmate Kate Lee, who pulled out the 7-6 (7-4) victory on the top court over Namie Isago and Anastasia Lim.
 
Playing No. 1 in singles, Chaudry made it a short match against Kubanova with a 6-2, 6-1 victory and Pal was close behind with a 6-4, 6-1 win on the No. 6 court over Katsiaryna Kostsina. Cheng then knocked off Isago, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 4 spot to clinch the Navy win and Jordaan defeated Turro by a 6-3, 7-5 score in the No. 3 hole. Rounding out the night, Kate Lee racked up a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles against Lim while Julia Lee was upended by Silva in a 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 match on the fifth court.
 
Coach Alessandra Pedergnana Comments
"Another really tough three-match stretch for us. For our team to bounce back after a down-to-the-wire battle with Liberty and turn right back around to beat two solid teams in Drexel and FDU is a testament of our ladies and their efforts. The team is putting together a lot of what they have learned in these last several weeks and I like the improvement and grit we are showing. We will look to continue and put in the work to get ready for another tough team in Georgetown. Also, a huge congratulations to Coach Keith Puryear on his 500th and 501st wins today. It has been both an honor and a privilege to have been coached by him and now 16-plus years later coach by his side. Total team effort by all this weekend."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 6-0 in the all-time series with Drexel and 5-0 all-time against FDU.
• Winning her 12th-straight singles match, Tannenbaum is now tied for the third-longest singles winning streak in program history and is three wins away from catching Kacey Moore's program-record 15-straight singles wins.
• Tannenbaum improved to 10-0 in singles play this spring and notched her 78th career singles win, tying Darien Sears for third in program history.
• Puryear is now 203-45 in home matches during his Navy tenure and stands at 729 overall wins between his 19 seasons as the UMBC men's and women's coach and his 16 years with the Mids.
• Jordan and Eklund have won nine-straight matches as a doubles pairing, while Johns and Cheng are both on six-match singles winning streaks.
 
Up Next
Navy wraps up its five-match homestand on Thursday, March 7 with a 1 p.m. contest against Georgetown.