The Navy women’s tennis team secured a 4-3 victory against service academy rival Army at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center on Saturday, with freshman Sia Chaudry clinching the match for the Midshipmen. This win takes Navy’s record to 15-4 on the season and keeps them undefeated at 3-0 in Patriot League action. Army’s record now stands at 18-7 overall and 3-1 in league play.
The Midshipmen captured the women’s tennis Star along with the men’s and women’s outdoor track & field Stars, thus clinching the 2022-23 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA in Navy’s favor. This is the 39th time in the past 45 years that Navy has won the Star Series, with a record of 39-4-2.
Navy set the tone early on in doubles play, with the sophomore duo of Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker securing a 6-1 win over Julia Kelly and Jenna Sabile. Chaudry and senior captain Casey Accola then secured the doubles point for the Mids when the pairing pulled out a 6-4 victory against Isabella Brilliant and Maria Drobotova at the No. 2 spot.
In singles competition, Army took the lead with wins at the No. 2 and No. 6 spots, but Navy’s Emily Tannenbaum evened the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Cooper Jackson at the top position. Despite dropping the first set to Kelly, Accola bounced back to tie the match at 3-3 with a three-set win. This left Chaudry and Gilbert battling on the No. 3 court, with Chaudry eventually clinching the Navy win with a 7-5, 6-4 singles victory.
Navy Head Coach Keith Puryear praised the team for their performance, saying, “Hats off to our ladies for the way they battled today for the N star. Every single member played a part in this battle!”
The win takes Navy’s all-time series against Army to 12-7, with the rivals now tied 5-5 through 10 Star Match meetings. Navy has now won three of its last four meetings with Army.
Looking ahead, Navy returns home to Annapolis on April 7 to host Georgetown at 2 p.m. The Mids then play LIU on April 8 for Senior Day, with that match beginning at 11 a.m. Despite the recent win, Coach Puryear emphasized the importance of looking forward, saying, “Today was a good win, but we must continue the journey that lies ahead for us with two more PL matches, one non-conference match against a very good Georgetown team, a senior day contest versus LIU and then the PL tournament back at Army. They all loom in the very near future, and we will be ready.”