SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Ending its stay in the Hoosier State, the Navy women's tennis team suffered its second loss of the season Sunday, falling to Ball State, 6-1, at the University of Notre Dame's Eck Tennis Pavilion.
 
While the Cardinals (1-1) handled the Midshipmen (4-2) in doubles play, Navy forced a third set in four different singles matches, with freshman Anna Wiskowski pulling out a comeback victory on the No. 6 court to prevent a shutout.
 
A 6-2 win for the top BSU pairing of Sarah Shahbaz and Isabelle Tanjuatco over Navy junior Olivia Fermo and freshman Nicole Fu kicked off doubles competition. The No. 3 matchup then saw the Cardinals' Asia Fontana and Sydney Hrehor secure the doubles point with a 6-4 victory against junior Julia Lee and sophomore Molly Bellia, while the No. 2 court was left unfinished.
 
Singles play opened with Shahbaz defeating Fermo on the second court, 6-0, 6-2, while Alana Bristow pulled out a 6-1, 6-3 win against sophomore Emma Gu in the top spot to put Ball State in view of clinching.
 
Priyanka Rana locked up the Cardinals' first win of the spring when she outlasted Fu on the third court, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, while Tanjuatco beat sophomore Grace Li at the No. 4 spot via a prolonged 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 10-8 battle.
 
Wiskowski got the Mids' lone point when she rallied against Gabby Barrera for a 0-6, 7-6 (13), 6-2 victory on the sixth court, but Ball State got on the board again when Fontana closed out the day with a 6-3, 6-7 (1), 10-7 decision over rookie Jina Cha.
 
Head Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"We thank Coach Silverio and Notre Dame for the opportunity to play in South Bend. We competed hard throughout the weekend. In the ND match, Anna Jordaan and Peyton Amspacher-Philemon's doubles win at No. 2 was the highlight of the day. In fact, all three doubles matches were tight and we really had opportunities to take the point. In singles, much came down to being able to string together high-quality points and winning critical points in the match. ND did a better job and the scores reflected that."

"Ball State match was a battle, in doubles and singles both. This match could have easily been a 4-3 final. With singles, the coaches felt we started slowly, losing all six first sets. Nicole, Jina and Grace showed tenacity to win the second in their matches, but couldn't secure their thirds. Anna Wiskowski played the match of the day, fighting off five match points in the second set tie-breaker before winning it and ultimately taking the third set. We will have a good week of practice and focus on some good takeaways from this weekend to prepare for Liberty and Mount St. Mary's this coming weekend."
 
Match Notes
• Navy moves to 0-1 in the all-time series with Ball State.
• Sunday marked Navy's first all-time match against a current MAC school.
• Wiskowski has now won two-straight singles matches in the No. 6 spot.
 
Up Next
Navy returns to Annapolis next Saturday, Feb. 7 to host Liberty and Mount St. Mary's in a doubleheader. Opening serve against the Flames is set for 11 a.m.