The Navy women’s tennis team continued their impressive form by winning their fifth consecutive match, beating Bucknell 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Tennis Courts in Lewisburg, Pa. With this win, Navy’s record now stands at 14-4, and they remain unbeaten in Patriot League play with a 2-0 record.
The Midshipmen had to come back from a doubles defeat after Bucknell’s Madi Sebulsky and Caroline Marcus beat Navy’s Sylvia Eklund and Stella Ribaudo, 6-3, to even the doubles action. Bucknell took the doubles point when Whitney King and Abby Platt partnered to upset the top Navy pairing of Emily Tannenbaum and Samantha Johns in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-3).
However, Navy turned things around in singles play, starting with Kate Lee’s dominant performance against Novak, winning 6-1, 6-3. The Mids went ahead when Ribaudo tallied a 6-2, 6-4 win in the No. 2 spot against Lajos. Tannenbaum added to the lead with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over King in the top contest, while freshman Hanna Elks Smith clinched Navy’s second league win when she knocked off Mirra Manolov in a 7-6 (7-0), 6-2 battle on the No. 6 court.
Sia Chaudry tacked on another point for the Mids at the No. 3 position when she defeated Miller in three sets (6-2, 2-6, 6-0) and senior captain Casey Accola closed out the day with her own three-set win over Platt at No. 4 singles, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
“We knew it would be a challenge going from indoor conditions the day before at Lehigh to fairly blustery outdoor conditions today against Bucknell,” said Keith Puryear, Navy’s assistant coach. “Coach Ale Pedergnana and I felt we managed that challenge well as well as the challenges faced by competing against a very solid Bucknell team.”
Navy now has an all-time record of 16-2 against Bucknell. Freshman Hanna Elks Smith has won her last seven singles matches, while Tannenbaum is on a four-match win streak. Tannenbaum’s 24 singles victories this season ties her freshman-year total.
Navy’s next match is against Army on Saturday, April 1, in West Point, N.Y., for the annual Star match.