WINCHESTER, Mass. – In its lone Patriot League road match of the season, the Navy women's tennis team had its 11-match winning streak snapped Saturday afternoon when it fell to Boston University, 4-3, at the Winchester Indoor Tennis Club.
 
The Terriers (5-9, 2-1 PL) clinched the overall victory by securing the doubles point and quickly winning three singles flights to build a clinching 4-0 edge before the Midshipmen (16-5, 2-1 PL) rallied to take the final three matches on the court.
 
Boston U. set the tone early in doubles action, as Nancy Liu and Gabriella Mikaul defeated Navy's top pairing of junior Olivia Fermo and freshman Nicole Fu, 6-3. The Terriers then secured the opening point at the No. 2 court, where Blanka DeMicheli and Madison Liu prevailed over sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and junior Anna Jordaan in a back-and-forth affair that needed a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3). The Terriers completed the doubles sweep with a 7-5 win at the No. 3 spot, as Rhea Rai and Emily Zhao took down junior Julia Lee and sophomore Grace Li.
 
In singles play, Boston quickly extended its advantage to 3-0 in straight sets, with Madison Liu topping sophomore Molly Bellia, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 4 position and Mikaul notching a 6-1, 6-4 victory over another sophomore in Emma Gu at the top flight.
 
DeMicheli delivered the match-clinching point for the Terriers on the fifth court, rallying from an early deficit to defeat Amspacher-Philemon in a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 final.
 
Despite BU clinching the win, Navy fought back to tighten the final margin by sweeping the final three singles contests—all of which were decided by a 10-game pro set. Li put the Mids on the board at the No. 3 flight, outlasting Ellie Gyuro, 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6), while rookie Jina Cha followed with a comeback victory on the sixth court, defeating Emily Zhao by a 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8) score. In the final match of the day, Fu battled back after dropping the opening set to beat Nancy Liu in a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (10-4) decision at the No. 2 slot, cementing the 4-3 final score.
 
Head Coach Keith Puryear Comments
"Hard fought match by both teams. We talked with the ladies afterwards and, if handled correctly, there are many great takeaways from this match. Doubles was tight all around, as were the singles matches. We must use this as a positive learning experience for this still very young team. Ultimately, BU was better in the critical moments of the match. We now shift our focus, as we have another challenging week ahead with exams and prepping for Saturday's Star match."
 
Match Notes
• Navy is now 1-15 in the all-time series with Boston.
• Amspacher-Philemon's own personal singles winning streak was stopped at 13 matches.
• Li improved her singles winning streak to 10-straight matches, marking the 16th time in program history a Navy player has posted a double-digit singles winning streak.
 
Up Next
Navy will host Army in the 2026 Star Match on Saturday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m.