ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Led by its senior class claiming three titles, the Navy women's tennis team wrapped up play this weekend after competing in the 48th Milwaukee Tennis Classic on Friday and Saturday while also hosting the three-day Navy Blue & Gold Invitational back in Annapolis.
 
With Emily Tannenbaum breaking a pair of program career records on Friday and then winning the mixed doubles title in Milwaukee on Saturday, her classmates Sylvia Eklund and Parvathi Shanker were able to capture the "A" and "B" singles draws back home on Sunday while sophomore Manci Pal was part of the "C" doubles-winning pairing in Annapolis.
 
Milwaukee Tennis Classic Recap
Playing at the Nicolet Tennis Center, Tannenbaum and sophomore Olivia Fermo began their weekend by picking up a 6-3 win over Marquette's Andie Weise and Emma Davis in the opening round of doubles action but fell the next day, 6-4, to Oklahoma's Gloriana Nahum and Emma Ghirardato. The doubles victory gave Tannenbaum 161 combined career wins, surpassing the previous program record of 160 by Amanda Keller.
 
Moving into Friday's singles play, Tannenbaum picked up her program-record 91st career singles win when she knocked off Houston's Sophie Schouten in a three-set battle, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, but fell to Purdue's Juana Larranaga in the round-of-16 (4-6, 6-3, 6-3). For Fermo, she suffered a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Oklahoma's Roisin Gilheany in the first round before falling to Purdue's Fatima Gutierrez in a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 consolation match. Continuing into Saturday's consolation play, Tannenbaum was upended by Ghirardato to begin the day, 6-0, 6-3, while Fermo was defeated by Ole Miss' Emma Kette, 6-2, 6-1.
 
Headlining the Mids' stay in Milwaukee was an all-Navy pairing in the mixed doubles final, as Tannenbaum teamed up with Aniketh Ayinala to defeat Fermo and J.J. Etterbeek in the championship match to close out Saturday.
 
Navy Blue & Gold Invitational Recap
The Mids had all three of its players in the "A" singles draw reach the semifinals, as Eklund beat players from Georgetown and Villanova to set up a semifinal match with Georgetown Emily Novikov, while sophomore Makaila Cheng battled past players from Towson and Villanova to meet rookie teammate Grace Li in the other semifinals after Li beat entrants from Seton Hall and Georgetown. In the semifinals, Eklund outlasted Novikov by a 1-6, 7-5, 10-1 final and Li edged Cheng, 6-4, 6-1, while the finals saw Eklund battle Li for a 6-2, 2-6, 10-3 win.
 
In the "B" singles flight, Shanker knocked off players from Towson and George Washington to meet freshman Emma Gu in the semifinals after Gu surged past Villanova and Lehigh opponents, with Shanker posting a 6-4, 6-1 semifinal win against her teammate and then going on to notch 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 victory over the Hoyas' Natasha Kavarana in the finals. Also competing in the flight was senior captain Kate Lee, who fell to Mount St. Mary's Venus Tang in the opening round before winning against Towson's Ashira Murray and losing to Seton Hall's Ellie Coe in the consolation bracket.
 
The "C" draw saw freshman Molly Bellia reach the semifinals by defeating Seton Hall's Isabelle May and Georgetown's Paige Gilbert before falling to Villanova's Olivia Corcoran, 6-3, 6-4, while sophomore Anna Jordan claimed the first-round victory against Lehigh's Ronit Khromchenko but dropped a quarterfinal meeting with Georgetown's Carolyn Schaefer, 6-4, 6-3.
 
Pal was able to reach the semifinal round of the "D" singles flight when she held off players from GW and the Mount, but was edged out by Villanova's Valieriia Kornieva, 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 10-8, to end her weekend. Additionally, after falling in the opening round to Towson's Sania Suchinsky, freshman Vanessa Popescu put together an outstanding consolation run with wins over Lehigh's Hannah Letzer, Villanova's Savarin Seebald and GW's Alejandra Ramirez.
 
Doubles action saw Shanker and Lee partner in the "A" flight but fall in a matchup with the Mount's Emma Perkins and Venus Tang. In the "B" draw Eklund and Jordaan teamed up for an opening-round win over the Mount's Margherita Trolese and Amari O'Brien before falling to the Villanova pairing of Kornieva and Madeline Hills, while the freshman duo of Bellia and Gu dropped its lone match to Towson's Olivia Rothfeld and Gaia Montecchi.
 
The "C" doubles draw saw three Navy players in the finals, as Li and Popescu paired up to get wins over teams from Seton Hall and Towson to set up a title match against Pal, who partnered with GW's Madison Lee to beat pairings from the Mount, Villanova and Georgetown. In the finals, Pal and Lee surged past Li and Popescu for a 6-1 victory.
 
Head Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"We thank Chas Mulcahy and all the volunteers and tournament organizers for their hard work to make this event the premier experience that it is. We also want to thank our host family, Bill and Betsie Berrien, for their hospitality, as well as Skip and Sibylle Tasker. Congratulations to Emily and Olivia on both making the mixed finals, with Emily winning alongside Aniketh. Overall, I thought the weekend had good performances from both Em and Liv. I think the experience here gives both of them much to learn from if used correctly. The caliber of the event is always great and gives us the opportunity to compete against Power-4 schools that we might not see otherwise."
 
Associate Coach Alessandra Pedergnana Comments
"We had some impressive results in a highly-competitive tournament, so kudos to the ladies. Having two singles flight winners in Sylvia and Parvathi and a consolation winner in Vanessa is no small feat. Congratulations to Grace on being a finalist and Manci claiming the "C" flight doubles championship. Our goal has been to improve throughout the fall and we feel like we are doing just that. We must continue working to improve and take what we learned not just this past weekend but the entire fall thus far. We'll be back to work and improving on Tuesday."
 
Match Notes
• With 71 career doubles wins, Tannenbaum needs one more victory to match Kaylah Hodge for the program record.
• Tannenbaum now owns six career or single-season program records.
 
Up Next
Navy will send its four seniors to the San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic from Oct. 4-6.