ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team returns to action this weekend, opening its spring dual schedule with a pair of matches in the Yellowhammer State.
 
Kicking off the slate with a Saturday afternoon showdown with Samford in Birmingham, Alabama at 1 p.m. ET, the Midshipmen then close out the opening weekend by trekking to Tuscaloosa for a 10 a.m. ET match on Sunday against Alabama.
 
Spring Primer
Senior captain Casey Accola leads an 11-player squad into the spring portion of the 2022-23 campaign, headlining a group that also features a 2021 All-Patriot League First Teamer in sophomore Emily Tannenbaum … With seven underclassmen, head coach Keith Puryear and associate head coach Alessandra Pedergnana are looking to guide the youthful team to the program's first Patriot League Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth … In addition to the opening weekend in Alabama, the Mids make a pair of trips to Florida this spring, including a Feb. 17 match against Air Force at the USTA National Campus, the first all-time meeting in women's tennis between the two service academies … Patriot League action begins on March 25 at Lehigh, with four of the Mids' five league matches being on the road … Last season saw the Mids go 22-6 overall, posting the program's ninth 20-win season in just 13 varsity seasons, and finish second in the Patriot League at 4-1 before falling in the league semifinals.
 
Fall Recap
The Mids put together a fall season that saw the team combine for six flight championships over seven different events … Tannenbaum, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, picked up where she left off last spring by sweeping the "A" doubles and singles draws at the Bill & Sandra Moore Invitational, making a run to the consolation semifinals of the prestigious Milwaukee Tennis Classic, winning the top doubles flight at the Navy Blue & Gold Invitational alongside junior Stella Ribaudo and claiming Tournament MVP honors at the San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic … Sophomore Parvathi Shanker and freshman Sia Chaudry were both able to capture singles titles in the fall, as Shanker came out on top of the "C" draw at the Moore Invitational while Chaudry won the "B" flight at the Navy Blue and Gold Invitational.
 
Scouting the Bulldogs
Samford finished the spring of 2022 with a 13-9 dual record, going 5-2 in Southern Conference play and eventually advancing to the SoCon semifinal round … The Bulldogs return five letterwinners from last year's squad … Alexis Lopez and Lindsay Song each finished last season with 22 dual wins between singles and doubles play, with Lopez going 12-9 as part of the No. 1 doubles pairing.
 
Scouting the Crimson Tide
Alabama ended last season with a 15-12 mark in dual matches that included a 5-8 record in the Southeastern Conference, earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament … In the NCAA First Round, the Crimson Tide fell to 21st-ranked UCF, 4-0 … Loudmilla Bencheikh and Petra Sedlackova competed in the NCAA Singles Tournament as well, with both Tide players falling in the opening round … Sedlackova ended the fall of 2022 ranked as the No. 75 singles player in the nation by the ITA.
 
Series Histories
Saturday will mark not only the first dual match between Navy and Samford in program history, it will be the first meeting for the Mids against a current member of the SoCon … Navy's match on Sunday is also set to be the first all-time meeting for the Mids against Alabama and the first time that Navy will face off against an SEC opponent in dual-match play.
 
Up Next
Navy hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) and St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Jan. 21 in the Mids' home opener at the Brigade Sports Complex. The Mids take on the Red Flash at 8 a.m. before battling the Bonnies at 11 a.m.