ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women’s tennis team used a pair of home victories to open the spring season on Saturday, beating St. Bonaventure by a 6-1 score before sweeping Saint Francis, 7-0, to close out a busy day at the Tose Family Tennis Center.
Now standing at 2-0 on the season, the Midshipmen have won 12 of their last 14 matches dating back to last season, while both the Bonnies and the Red Flash shifted to 1-2 on the campaign.
St. Bonaventure Recap
In the morning match, St. Bonaventure took and early edge in doubles play when the No. 3 pairing of Kelly Barnes and Cirkeline Lundburg pulled off a 6-2 win over senior Samantha Johns and freshman Carly Mew, but the Mids’ No. 2 duo junior Sylvia Eklund and freshman Anna Jordaan answered back by knocking off Sienna Smith and Abbie Tyler, 6-2, and the junior pairing of Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker clinched the doubles point for Navy with another 6-2 victory over Anastasia Gubanova and Isabella Venter.
Jordaan quickly widened the Navy lead in singles play with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Barnes at the No. 6 spot, while Lee was able to defeat Smith by a 6-2, 6-2 final on the fifth court and sophomore Sia Chaudry clinched the match for the Mids with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Gubanova in the top position.
Playing on, Shanker came out victorious in a second-set tiebreaker against Venter on the No. 4 court, posting a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win, while Bonaventure got its lone point when Tyler beat Eklund in three sets, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 10-2. Closing out the morning for the Mids was Johns, who edged out Lundberg by a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 score.
Saint Francis Recap
The afternoon contest began with the No. 1 doubles team of senior captain Stella Ribaudo and junior Emily Tannenbaum tallying a 6-1 victory against Saint Francis’ Reagen Mangan and Diana Zuba. Continuing the trend, the freshman pairing of Makaila Cheng and Olivia Fermo won their matchup on the second court over Sara Jankovic and Kelly Dowuona, 6-2, and the other rookie duo of Julia Lee and Manci Pal defeated Kally Kadzinski and Valeria Vinces, 6-4, in the No. 3 spot.
In singles action, Julia Lee grabbed a 6-2, 6-1 win on the sixth court over Vinces, Ribaudo defeated Mangan at the No. 2 position by a 6-3, 6-4 score and Tannenbaum handled Zuba with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the top spot to clinch the second Navy win of the day. Completing the sweep were Fermo in the No. 4 spot knocking off Kadzinski by a 6-4, 6-1 final, Cheng tacking on a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dowuona on the fifth court and Pal holding on for a 6-2, 6-7 (13), 10-5 win against Jankovic.
Head Coach Keith Puryear Comments
“Everyone felt it was great to get out and compete today. While all three teams had some first-match nerves, the level of play was solid in both matches. We knew both St. Bonaventure and Saint Francis were improved squads from last season, so we went in expecting good battles. Today was a good start and we’re looking at continued improvement and learning from our experiences.”
Match Notes
• Navy is now 10-1 in the all-time series with St. Bonaventure.
• The Mids also moved to 14-0 all-time against Saint Francis.
• Ribaudo has now won five-straight singles matches, while the pairing of Eklund and Jordaan have posted wins in each of their last five matches as a doubles team.
• Tannenbaum’s 68 career singles wins are now tied with Emani Decquir for the fifth-most in program history.
Up Next
Navy is set for three matches next weekend, heading to Richmond for a Feb. 27 contest before hosting Morgan State and Villanova on Feb. 28.