ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Capped off by sophomore Molly Bellia's own comeback in singles, the Navy women's tennis team rallied past rival Army for a 4-2 victory in the 2026 Star Match on Saturday at the Fluegel-Moore Tennis Stadium, marking the Midshipmen's fourth Star match victory in five years.
With Navy (17-5, 3-1) improving the lead in the all-sport 2025-26 Star Series presented by USAA to 13-6-1, the Mids also handed Army (20-5, 5-1 PL) its first loss in Patriot League play and snapped the Black Knights' six-match winning streak. The Navy victory also saw sophomore Grace Li extend her singles winning streak to 11 matches while the Mids secured their 11-straight home win.
Army took the early advantage by securing a hard-fought doubles point, with the Black Knights' Emily Ruckno and Olivia Mellynchuk wining at No. 2 doubles against junior Anna Jordaan and sophomore Peyton Amspacher-Philemon, 6-0, to open the morning. Navy's Li and junior Julia Lee answered with a 6-3 win at No. 3 over Ylan Duong and Vennmukiil Mathivanan, but Army's Isabella Brilliant and Madison Smith clinched the opening point with a 7-6 (7-2) tiebreaker victory over junior Olivia Fermo and freshman Nicole Fu at the top flight, fighting back twice to erase a multi-point deficit.
Navy quickly flipped the script in singles play, partially sparked by a dramatic momentum shift at the No. 2 spot. In that showdown, Fu battled back from a 5-0 deficit in her first set against Mathivanan to ultimately take the frame 7-6 (7-1) and worked to prolong the second set, as her comeback in the unfinished match ignited the Mids.
Getting the team rolling as Fu rallied, sophomore Emma Gu put Navy on the board with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over Smith at the first flight, while Amspacher-Philemon followed suit at the No. 5 slot by defeating Duong, 6-4, 6-2, before Li extended Navy's lead to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Emma Sy on the third court.
With its back against the wall, Army staved off defeat when Stacey Samonte secured a 6-3, 7-5 win over rookie Jina Cha at the No. 6 court.
The rivalry match came down to Bellia's three-set battle at No. 4 singles as Fu and Mathivanan were going into their own third set. After dropping her first set in a tiebreaker, Bellia roared back to defeat Ruckno by a 6-7 (1-7), 6-2, 7-5 score, highlighted by erasing a 4-1 deficit and fighting off two match points as well in the final set to provide the match-clinching point for the Mids, while also sealing the first Star for Navy's sophomore and freshman classes.