ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Extending its winning streak to four matches, the Navy women's tennis team (9-4) pulled out a pair of victories Saturday afternoon at the Tose Family Tennis Center, knocking off Georgetown (2-4) by a 5-1 score before holding on for a 4-3 win over Towson (4-3).
 
The Midshipmen sprinted out to early leads in both matches by claiming the doubles points, while sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon against the Hoyas and junior Anna Jordaan over the Tigers provided the match-clinching wins in singles action.
 
Georgetown Recap
Despite the Hoyas grabbing early momentum with Ruhika Bhat and Julia Chu scoring a 6-3 win over sophomore Molly Bellia and freshman Anna Wiskowski in the No. 3 spot, the Mids rallied to take the doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins themselves. After junior Julia Lee and sophomore Grace Li beat out Katie Garofolo-Ro and Emily Novikov in the No. 2 position, the top duo of junior Olivia Fermo and rookie Nicole Fu took down Paige Gilbert and Ashley Kennedy to clinch the doubles tally.
 
Bellia then kicked off singles action by defeating Bhat on the fifth court, 6-3, 6-3, while sophomore Emma Gu earned a 6-1, 7-5 win over Novikov at the top spot and Amspacher-Philemon won a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Molly Evans in the No. 6 slot to clinch Navy's third-straight team win.
 
Chu was able to get past Fermo, 6-4, 6-3, in the No. 2 matchup to prevent the singles shutout, but the Mids closed out their Saturday opener by Fu rallying against Garofolo-Ro at the No. 3 spot, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, and Li battling back for a 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 win over Gilbert in the fifth court.
 
Towson Recap
Navy got the quick doubles edge when Lee and Wiskowski beat the No. 3 Towson pairing of Gaia Montecchi and Ashira Murray, 6-2, but the Tigers responded with Aubrey Carper and Chloe Courtnage's 7-5 win over Gu and fellow sophomore Ji Soo oh on the second court put the onus on the top matchup. At No. 1 doubles, the team of Amspacher-Philemon and Jordaan rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to record a 7-5 victory against Tamzin Pountney and Kiersten Tambe, locking up the doubles point for the Mids.
 
Wiskowski started strong for Navy in singles play, scoring a 6-0, 6-1 win over Courtnage at the No. 6 slot, and Oh followed at No. 5 by nipping Carper in a 6-2, 6-2 final. With Navy looking to clinch, Montecchi kept Towson's hopes alive with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Bellia on the second court, but Jordaan sealed the Mids' fourth-straight win and ninth victory of the spring by edging out Tambe in a 6-4, 7-6 (10) battle at the top spot.
 
Playing out their matches, Pountney notched a 7-6 (8), 6-2 win against Lee on the third court, while Murray outlasted freshman Jina Cha in a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 11-9 battle to end the afternoon.
 
Head Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"We had two tough, hard-fought matches today. Proud to see the ladies rise to the occasion to meet the challenges faced. Total team effort today. Georgetown had come off a loss to Towson the night before, so we figured they would be extra motivated and they were. Doubles was tight. At No. 1, Liv and Nicole fought from a break down to win, while Julia and Grace got ahead early and rode the momentum to the win at No. 2. Getting the first set in four of the six singles matches helped us to maintain scoreboard pressure. Peyton, Molly and even Emma were able to win in straight sets, while Grace fought for a three-set win."
"I commend Towson for their play. They came in hot after a win against Georgetown last night. The doubles followed a similar pattern to the Georgetown match with tough, hard-fought play. Julia's versatility in doubles was on display, as she doubled up getting us a win with Anna W. at the three spot, while Anna J. and Peyton pulled out a comeback win at No. 1. In singles, Anna W. and Ji Soo did work to get straight-set wins, but it was Anna J. who brought things home for us with the win. No rest for us as we've got an always tough Delaware team tomorrow."
 
Match Notes
• Navy moves to 9-3 in the all-time series with Georgetown.
• The Mids also improved to 15-0 all-time against Towson.
• Amspacher-Philemon has now won her last seven singles matches.
 
Up Next
Navy will play a 12:30 p.m. match at Delaware Sunday afternoon.