ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Making the trip to Central New York for the first time in seven years, the Navy women's tennis team (13-9, 3-0 PL) pulled out the 6-1 victory over Colgate (10-8, 1-3 PL) in Patriot League action Saturday afternoon at the Drumlins Tennis Club in Syracuse, N.Y.
 
Renewing the series with the Raiders in the first regular-season meeting between the squads since 2019, the Midshipmen used their win to stay defeated in the league standings and claim six of their last seven matches. The match also saw the first collegiate meeting between Navy's Sylvia Eklund and her twin sister Addie of Colgate, with Sylvia slotting in the Mids' singles lineup and Addie pulling double-duty for the Raiders.
 
The doubles portion of the afternoon kicked off with senior Emily Tannenbaum and sophomore Olivia Fermo defeating the top Colgate pairing of Sophia Montero and Amelia Galin, 6-1, while senior Parvathi Shanker and freshman Grace Li held off Carina Cristobal and Eliza Podlas in a 6-3 win on the second court. Colgate avoided the shutout when Addie Eklund and Rebecca Hess beat sophomore Manci Pal and rookie Emma Gu in a 6-3 decision on the No. 3 court.
 
Moving on to singles, senior Sylvia Eklund tallied a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Podlas in the No. 6 position to increase Navy's lead, while Gu bested Cristobal at the No. 3 spot, 6-3, 6-0, to move it to 3-0 Mids. Fellow rookie Molly Bellia then posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Addie Eklund on the fourth court to seal Navy's third league win in eight days.
 
Rounding out singles play, Tannenbaum battled Galin to a 6-3, 7-5 win in the top slot and senior captain Kate Lee won a 6-2, 6-2 match with Hess on the fifth court. Montero nabbed Colgate's lone point in the No. 2 matchup, getting a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Li.
 
Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"Today was another tough, hard-fought battle. The level of play in the Patriot league has risen dramatically and Colgate showed that today. I liked our responses to the challenges we've been presented with today and all season long. We're challenging ourselves to do the little necessary things to be successful, even if it's uncomfortable at the time. There are still some small things to continue to address, but the coaching staff likes the growth we continue to show. We're looking forward to making it successfully through 12-week exams and getting good preparation for next week's Star match at West Point."
 
Match Notes
• Navy moves to 10-0 in the all-time series with Colgate.
• Tannenbaum has now won her last six singles matches, while Eklund, Gu and Lee have each won four-straight singles matches.
• Tannenbaum needs three more doubles wins to break the program single-season record of 24 set by Amanda Keller, Kaylah Hodge and Claudia Mackenzie during the 2017-18 campaign.
• Tannenbaum also needs one more win at the No. 1 doubles spot to break the program career record held by Hodge and Keller at 23 top-doubles victories.
 
Up Next
Navy will travel to rival Army next Saturday, April 5, for the annual Star Match. The showdown, part of the 2024-25 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, is set for 11 a.m. in West Point, N.Y.