Molly Bellia of Women’s Tennis Named NAAA Athlete of the Week

Navy Sophomore Rallied for Clinching Singles Point in Star-Match Victory Over Army

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Coming off her Star match-clinching single victory this past weekend, Navy women's tennis sophomore Molly Bellia was named the Naval Academy Athletic Association (NAAA) Athlete of the Week on Monday afternoon.

Bellia's comeback win against Army's Emily Ruckno in singles play was the clincher in the Midshipmen's 4-2 win over the Black Knights, marking the Mids' fourth Star match victory in five years.

The rivalry match came down to Bellia's three-set battle at No. 4 singles after Army claimed the doubles point and Navy sophomores Emma Gu, Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and Grace Li all won their singles matches before the Black Knights' Stacey Samonte captured the No. 6 singles court.

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. The rally was highlighted by Bellia 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, also sealing the first Star win for Navy's sophomore and freshman classes.

On the season, Bellia is 19-11 in singles play, going 11-5 this spring with a 3-1 Patriot League record. The sophomore has turned it on as of late, going 8-2 in her last 10 singles contests. Bellia has also gone 13-8 in doubles competition this season, including a 2-0 league doubles mark.

Navy will continue league play when it hosts Loyola on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.

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