ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On a day that saw the Midshipmen honor their four seniors, the Navy women's tennis team (14-11, 4-2 PL) came out strong but faltered late in a 4-3 loss to Patriot League rival Boston University (9-7, 5-0 PL) on Saturday at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
 
After recognizing the senior class of Sylvia Eklund, Kate Lee, Parvathi Shanker and Emily Tannenbaum prior to the contest, Navy claimed the doubles point to take an early lead and started singles play in good shape before Boston rallied late to win the final three singles matches, with the Terriers' spoiling the Mids' last league match of the regular season.
 
Navy opened doubles action with Tannenbaum and sophomore Olivia Fermo pulling away for a 6-4 win over Uma Bakaiyte and Gabriella Mikaul on the top court, while the 6-4 victory by senior Kate Lee and sophomore Julia Lee in the No. 3 spot against Emily Zhao and Nina Gullbransen secured the opening point for the Mids.
 
With Navy taking a 2-0 lead when rookie Emma Gu pulled out a 6-3, 6-2 win over Zhao at the No. 5 position, Boston started its comeback on the fourth court as Blanka DeMicheli beat freshman Molly Bellia in a 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 three-setter.
 
Tannenbaum put the Mids on the verge of clinching when she defeated Bakaiyte in the top spot, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, but Rhea Rai was able to edge out Eklund at the No. 6 slot in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 battle to keep the Terriers alive.
 
Mikaul then evened the match at 3-3 when she scored a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over rookie Grace Li at the No. 2 spot, while Madison Lui rallied after a first-set loss to beat out Shanker, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on the third court and complete the BU comeback.
 
Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"This one is tough one to swallow, but we will be better because of it. We did a great job of securing the doubles point then getting out strong by winning five first sets, but you must credit BU. They fought back bit-by-bit, winning five second sets to completely change the momentum of the match."
 
"I am proud of our grit shown but we must do a better job of finishing. The margins were slim, but we feel there were some things we needed to do better at times that could have flipped the match our way in many of the second sets and/or third sets. Next up are two mid-week matches. Both will be tough and we'll use them to continue our progress."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 1-13 in the all-time series against Boston.
•  Tannenbaum has now won her last nine singles matches.
• The doubles win Saturday marked Tannenbaum's 24th top-doubles victory, setting a new program career record.
• Tannenbaum now needs one more doubles win to break the program single-season record of 24.
 
Up Next
Navy will close out the regular season next week with two matches, playing at Saint Joseph's on April 15 and hosting Howard on April 18.