ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy women's tennis head coach Keith Puryear announced Tuesday that he has promoted assistant coach Alessandra Pedergnana to Associate Head Coach of the program.
 
"Coach Pedergnana is extremely deserving of this promotion," said Puryear. "I would like to thank Mr. Chet Gladchuk and our program administrator, Loretta Lamar, for their support of her promotion to Associate Head Coach. Having been with me since her days as a player at UMBC, it has been exciting to see her grow and flourish as an assistant coach. Her unwavering dedication is so very evident to everyone associated with our program. She loves the Naval Academy and all that it stands for. She represents our program in an exemplary manner at all times.
 
"Her drive, initiative, intelligence and loyalty have helped our program flourish from our start as a club team 14 years ago. I know I can trust her with the ideals we need to stress to continue moving our program forward. Because I have her as my assistant coach, I have been more effective in every area of my job. I look forward to this next chapter as she officially steps into the shoes of Associate Head Coach here at Navy."
 
Pedergnana has been a member of the Navy women's tennis coaching staff since the program's inception as a club team for the 2008-09 season, assisting in its progress to become one of the most consistent winners in the Patriot League over the last 13 seasons.
 
Under the guidance of Pedergnana, Navy has posted a 242-83 record that includes a dominant 43-11 mark in Patriot League regular-season contests and seven appearances in the Patriot League Championship match.
 
Navy has earned 30 individual All-Patriot League honors during Pedergnana's tenure that includes 12 first-team honorees and Emani Decquir being named the 2013 Patriot League Women's Tennis Player of the Year.
 
Additional awards earned under the direction of Pedergnana include Stefanie Ton (2013) and Catalina Rico (2019) garnering recognition as the ITA Arthur Ashe Award Recipient for the Atlantic Region, along with Erin Snook being recognized as the 2014 ITA Atlantic Region Most Improved Senior.
 
Pedergnana is a 2006 graduate of UMBC where she was a four-year standout for the Retrievers' women's tennis program. As a freshman, Pedergnana won 27 matches and garnered All-Northeast Conference recognition prior to earning All-America East honors following her sophomore campaign.
 
Playing at the No. 1 doubles and singles positions during her junior and senior campaigns, Pedergnana eclipsed the 100-win plateau during her senior season in a 4-3 win over Army, prior to being named one of two Outstanding Senior Female Athletes of the Year at the 2006 UMBC Varsity Awards ceremony.
 
At the junior level, Pedergnana was ranked as high as fifth in the nation in doubles, along with ranking as one of the top-50 players nationally in singles. She won a bronze ball at the 2002 Winter Super Nationals and a silver ball at the 2006 USTA National Women's Open Indoor Championship, both coming in doubles competition.
 
For her efforts during her playing career, Pedergnana was named to the UMBC Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2014, in addition to being a member of the St. Francis Prep Athletics Ring of Honor.
 
At the conclusion of her playing career, Pedergnana became an assistant coach on Puryear's staff at UMBC in the fall of 2006. The duo of Puryear and Pedergnana earned America East Coaching Staff of the Year honors for both men's and women's tennis following the 2006-07 season after leading the men's team to their first America East Championship and the women's team to the conference finals.
 
"I would like to thank head coach Keith Puryear, Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk and Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance Loretta Lamar for this incredible opportunity," said Pedergnana. "I am honored to work with incredible young ladies every single day at such an elite institution. I take great pride in developing leaders of character and I look forward to continuing to work with our team and coach Puryear and coach Lennox to take our program to continued new heights."