BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The second-seeded Navy women's tennis team (22-5, 4-1 Patriot League) opened the Patriot League Tournament on Friday afternoon with a 4-0 win over seventh-seeded Lehigh (5-11, 2-5 Patriot League) at the Ulrich Varsity Tennis Courts. The Midshipmen will now face third-seeded Army (23-9, 5-2 Patriot League) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the second semifinal of the tournament.
 
"It was a good start to the Patriot League weekend," said head coach Keith Puryear. "It was important to get out and get a good start today. In most matches I felt that we did that, in some others the start was a little patchy. We must now focus on preparing for tomorrow's match versus Army."
 
Prior to the start of the match, the contest was condensed to include two doubles contests and five singles competitions as Lehigh was only able to field a five-player lineup due to health and safety protocols.
 
As the pairing has done throughout the 2021-22 season, Katreina Corpuz (Sr., Ewa Beach, Hawai'i) and Meghana Komarraju (Sr., Vienna, Va.) turned in a strong showing at the No. 2 doubles, posting a 6-1 victory over the Mountain Hawks' Megha Dania and Anna Harvey. The victory ultimately secured the doubles point in the condensed format, giving Navy a 1-0 advantage.
 
Kacey Moore (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) and Jillian Taggart (Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif.) took on Junmoke James and Hamsa Javagal at the No. 1 doubles, jumping out to a 5-2 lead prior to the point-clinching win by Corpuz and Komarraju.
 
In singles, the Mids were awarded the No. 6 singles point prior to the start of the competition, extending the Navy advantage to 2-0 with five matches to be decided.
 
Casey Accola (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.) quickly pushed the Midshipmen lead to 3-0 over the Mountain Hawks with a straight-set decision over Harvey (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 5 position. Match victory and a berth in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal would be cemented for Navy just moments later as Stella Ribaudo (So., Chicago, Ill.) rolled to a straight-set victory over her own at the No. 4 singles over Heidi Shen (6-0, 6-0).
 
At the time of the clinching point, the Mids held leads in two of the three remaining singles competitions. Emily Tannenbaum (Fr., Commack, N.Y.) won the first set of the No. 1 match (6-1) prior to the stoppage, while Komarraju took the first set of the No. 2 singles (6-4) over James.
 
The semifinal matches on Saturday feature No. 1-seeded Boston University facing No. 4-seeded Loyola at 11 a.m., followed by No. 2 Navy against No. 3 Army at 3 p.m. The championship match is slated for Sunday at noon.
 
In the previous meeting between the two service academies this season, Navy won the Star with a 4-1 victory over the Black Knights in Annapolis. The victory included rallying from a match down to win the doubles point, prior to taking three of the four singles competitions to secure the three-point win. The Midshipmen squared off against the Black Knights in the 2021 Patriot League Tournament semifinals, earning a dramatic comeback victory, 4-3.
 
2022 PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 21 – First Round
No. 8 Lafayette vs. No. 9 Holy Cross – Lafayette, 3-1
 
Friday, April 22 – Quarterfinals
No. 1 Boston University vs. No. 8 Lafayette – Boston University, 4-0
No. 4 Loyola Maryland vs. No. 5 Bucknell – Loyola, 4-2
No. 3 Army West Point vs. No. 6 Colgate – Army, 4-0
No. 2 Navy vs. No. 7 Lehigh – Navy, 4-0
 
Saturday, April 23 – Semifinals
No. 1 Boston University vs. No. 4 Loyola, 11 a.m.
No. 2 Navy vs. No. 3 Army, 3 p.m.
 
Sunday, April 24 – Championship
Semifinal 1 winner vs. Semifinal 2 winner, Noon