ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A roster-wide effort helped the Navy women's tennis team pick up a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center, with the Midshipmen outlasting Georgetown, 5-2, before shutting out Morgan State, 7-0, to close the day.
 
The victories improved Navy to 9-8 overall, while the Hoyas shifted to 5-5 and the Bears moved to 0-4 on their young season.
 
Georgetown Recap
With senior Sylvia Eklund and freshman Emma Gu posting a 6-0 win over the No. 3 GU pairing of Ellen Puzak and Paige Gilbert, the Mids quickly clinched the doubles point when sophomore Manci Pal and freshman Molly Bellia beat Emily Novikov and Natasha Kavarana, 6-2, on the second court. Navy then secured the doubles sweep as seniors Emily Tannenbaum and Parvathi Shanker notched a 6-3 victory in the top spot against Ashley Kennedy and Katie Garofolo-Ro.
 
Bellia then got the first win of singles play when she knocked off Kavarana, 6-1, 6-0, on the fifth court, while Tannenbaum's 6-2, 6-1 victory against Novikov in the No. 1 flight put Navy in the driver's seat. Kennedy kept GU alive with a 6-3, 6-2 win over rookie Grace Li in the No. 2 slot, but Pal clinched the Mids' victory with a 6-1, 6-4 winning decision at the No. 6 position against Molly Evans.
 
Playing out singles, Gilbert was victorious against Gu on the fourth court, 6-1, 6-4, while Shanker held on against Garofolo-Ro, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, in the No. 3 match.
 
Morgan State Recap
Going to a pair of tiebreakers in doubles action, Navy was able to claim all three courts, starting with senior Kate Lee and sophomore Julia Lee's 6-1 win over Stefania Moysiadi and Aleksandra Evdokimova. In the first tiebreaker, Shanker and Li nabbed a 7-6 (7-5) victory against the Bears' top duo of Hannah Smith and Lauryn Hall, while freshmen Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and Ji Soo Oh rallied from down six points in their tiebreaker to defeat the No. 3 pairing of Tyler Williams and Julia Jeffrey, 7-6 (9-7).
 
Tannenbaum made short work of Smith in the top singles spot, 6-2, 6-1, to continue her strong Saturday, while Li beat Evdokimova, 6-0, 6-2, on the second court and Oh edged out Williams in the No. 6 flight, 6-4, 7-5, to secure Navy's second win of the afternoon.
 
Continuing on, Kate Lee posted a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Jeffrey in the No. 4 slot, Amspacher-Philemon registered a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win against No. 5 player Roua Limem and Eklund finished the day by coming back against Hall, 2-6, 7-5, 10-7.
 
Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"Proud of the grit we showed today in both matches. I thought both teams played well and pushed us. I liked our responses in most of the matches in both singles and doubles. We're learning and improving. Go Navy."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 8-3 all-time against Georgetown and 11-0 in the all-time series with Morgan State.
• Shanker has now posted four-straight singles wins while Pal has claimed three-straight singles matches.
• Shanker and Li have now won four consecutive matches as a doubles pairing.
 
Up Next
Navy will end its homestand when it hosts Florida State in a 10 a.m. match on Saturday, March 8.