ANNAPOLIS, Md. – As the No. 2 overall seed in the Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament, the Navy women's tennis team (22-8) begins its postseason run against seventh-seeded Colgate (5-14) at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon at the Varsity Courts in Lewisburg, Pa., as Bucknell hosts the league tournament this spring.
The Midshipmen enter the postseason with an overall record of 22-8 and finished at 5-1 in the Patriot League this season. Navy's lone league loss came against Boston University -- who is the No. 1 seed in the tournament and was the lone undefeated team in league matches. Over the last four matches to end the regular season, the Midshipmen alternated losses and wins after falling in a pair of 4-3 decisions to Boston and Georgetown but beating Bucknell and Loyola by 6-1 score lines.
Navy has five players in its starting lineup with at least 15 singles victories including 11 players on the roster with at least 10 singles wins. Leading the Midshipmen in singles victories is
Kacey Moore with a record of 26-3 during her first year of collegiate tennis. The freshman is just three wins away from tying the single-season record for singles victories.
Meghana Komarraju comes into the postseason with the longest winning streak in singles competition for Navy as she has won her last 11 contests to move her record to 18-3 this season. Komarraju's 18 wins are tied for second on the team with
Ansofi Wreder.
In doubles competition, Navy has another five players with 15 wins and 11 players with double-digit victories during the 2018-19 season.
Annalise Klopfer and
Miranda Deng are tied for the team lead with 22 doubles wins. The pair of Klopfer and
Aimee Dervishian have the most wins for Navy in dual competition as the duo has compiled a record of 11-3 overall and have gone 9-2 when playing together at No. 2 doubles this spring.
Colgate comes into the weekend with a record of 5-14 overall and went 2-4 in the Patriot League. The Raiders earned wins over Holy Cross (5-2) and Lafayette (4-2) in league matches but suffered losses to Army, Bucknell, Lehigh and Navy. In the four losses, Colgate only tallied a pair of team points as it dropped 6-1 decisions to the Bison and Mountain Hawks and was swept by both service academies.
In non-league matches, the Raiders grabbed wins over NAIA St. Thomas, 7-0; NCAA Division II Le Moyne, 5-2; and NCAA Division III Rochester, 8-1.
Nearly one month ago, the Midshipmen and Raiders faced off at Drumlins Tennis Center in Syracuse, N.Y., for its Patriot League dual. Navy swept the match winning all nine matches in the contest. After winning the three doubles matches, Navy won four of the six singles matches in straight sets to seal the Midshipmen's 7-0 road win.
All-time in the Patriot League Tournament, Navy has gone 14-9 and won its only postseason matchup against Colgate last season in a 4-0 contest. This is set to be the third time in program history that Navy is going to be the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and it has gone 4-2 overall in the previous two appearances as the second seed in the tournament bracket.
The winner of the Navy-Colgate match will take on the winner of third-seeded Army and sixth-seeded Lehigh on Saturday at 2 p.m. The championship match is set for noon on Sunday afternoon with the winner of the tournament earning the Patriot League's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which is set for May 16-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
The Midshipmen begin their postseason schedule on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Colgate in Lewisburg, Pa.
