ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Starting a busy stretch of three Patriot League matches in four days, the Navy women's tennis team (17-5, 1-0 PL) posted a 7-0 victory over Loyola (5-3, 0-1 PL) in its league opener Thursday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
Winning their league opener for the third-straight season, the Midshipmen swept doubles play before claiming the first five singles matches to move their home dual record to 14-1 on the campaign.
 
With senior Samantha Johns and sophomore Sia Chaudry earning a 6-1 doubles win over the No. 1 Loyola pairing of Lauren Manwiller and Christine Richiez, Navy quickly secured the doubles point when juniors Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker defeated the No. 3 team of Jocelyn Assael and Emi Shivkumar, 6-1. Pulling away late, junior Emily Tannenbaum and freshman Olivia Fermo completed the doubles sweep with a 6-2 victory against Liza Tankimovich and Olivia Tracey.
 
Tannenbaum then made short work of Tracey in the No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-0, while Lee jumped out in front on the No. 4 court en route to a 6-2, 6-0 win against Manwiller. Clinching the Navy win, Johns posted a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Richiez at the No. 2 spot, followed by freshman Makaila Cheng holding on for a 6-1, 6-4 win against Shivkumar on the No. 6 court and Chaudry beating Tankimovich in a 6-3, 6-0 match in the No. 3 position. Rounding out action on the fifth court, Anna Rico got Loyola's lone point of the day by outlasting freshman Anna Jordaan, 6-4, 6-3.
 
Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"Today was a good start to a very busy week of matches for the ladies. We expected Loyola to present some challenges and I felt we did a good job of keeping our level of play up throughout the match. Loyola plays good doubles and I felt all of our doubles teams did a good job of creating opportunities to take charge today. After doubles, we kept the momentum flowing forward in the singles. Em played a comprehensive match at No. 1 to beat another all-league talent. After a tough first set, Sam and Sia both did a great job of momentum management in the second set, Kate was steady at No. 4, Anna lost a tough one that she'll learn from on the fifth court and Makaila competed well at No. 6 against a tough opponent. We're looking forward to a good practice session tomorrow to prepare for Lehigh on Saturday."
 
Match Notes
• Navy moved to 16-0 in the all-time series with Loyola.
• Tannenbaum is now one win shy from matching her single-season program record of 29 singles wins, moving to 28-6 this year with her victory over Tracey.
• Notching her 32nd career victory as the Mids' top singles player, Tannenbaum needs one more win at the No. 1 singles spot to match Amanda Keller for the career program record
• Chaudry has now won her last four singles matches.
 
Up Next
Navy will host Lehigh in an 11 a.m. match on Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center.