ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (6-2) is set for a historic meeting in the second leg of its two-day, two-match road trip to Florida this weekend, as the Midshipmen look to extend a six-match winning streak.
 
Navy will visit Division II No. 14-ranked Tampa (0-1) on Friday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m., turning around to play service academy rival Air Force (2-3) for the first time at the USTA National Campus in Orlando as part of the USTA's College MatchDay event.
 
Leaving Home Feeling Good
Navy will play away from Annapolis for the first time in over a month when the Mids play Tampa and Air Force in Florida, having played six home matches over four weekends after opening the spring in Alabama … The Mids went undefeated on the homestand, rattling off six straight victories that included four consecutive 7-0 wins to close out the extended stay at the Tose Family Tennis Center … Sophomores Kate Lee and Parvathi Shanker led the way with 5-0 records in singles play, while junior Samantha Johns and sophomore Emily Tannenbaum went 3-0 as a doubles pairing along with the duo of Shanker and junior Corinne Farid … The 6-0 homestand is only the fourth time in program history where the Mids posted a perfect record across a five-match-or-longer home stretch … Navy currently has a 10-match home winning streak dating back to last season, with the last home loss coming against No. 30 Old Dominion.
 
Mids on the Road
The Mids opened dual-match season with a pair of road contests, dropping a 5-2 match at Samford before falling by a 6-1 final at Alabama the following day … After Shanker and freshman Sia Chaudry picked up a doubles win at Samford, Tannenbaum and Chaudry both won their singles matches against the Bulldogs, while junior Stella Ribaudo knocked off No. 75 Petra Sedlackova in a three-set thriller to earn the Mids' lone point against the Crimson Tide … Navy is 33-31 all-time on the road but are 40-17 in neutral-site matches over the program's history.
 
Navy Racking Up Honors
Tannenbaum has picked up where she left off in the spring of 2022, receiving multiple honors during the fall season and continuing it into the new calendar year … The 2022 Patriot League Rookie of the Year has already garnered San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic MVP honors and the Milwaukee Tennis Classic Sportsmanship Award, and was named the Patriot League Player of the Week on Feb. 7 … Chaudry has also earned honors in short order, as the rookie was named the Patriot League Player of the Week on Jan. 24 … Both Tannenbaum and Chaudry, along with Ribaudo and senior captain Casey Accola, represented the Mids at the 2022 ITA Atlantic Regional in October.
 
Puryear Among the Elite
Head coach Keith Puryear reached the 700-win milestone with the Mids' win over Saint Bonaventure on Jan. 21 … Puryear now holds 704 overall wins and 476 women's victories, with 261 wins coming at Navy … His 476 women's victories between UMBC and Navy is tied for 13th among active Division I head coaches, matching the 476 wins by Michigan's Ronni Bernstein (FIU and Michigan).
 
College MatchDay Welcomes Navy
College MatchDay, a series of marquee neutral-site college tennis matches designed to showcase some of the nation's top collegiate tennis programs, returns to the USTA National Campus this weekend with a patriotic twist as both the men's and women's teams from Air Force and Navy will square off on Saturday evening … This is Air Force's third appearance at College MatchDay, having previously competed against Army in 2019 and 2022, while Navy will be making its College MatchDay debut … The day will feature a number of military-themed festivities, including a free tennis clinic for veterans prior to the match and a flyover … The superintendents of both the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy are expected to be in attendance.
 
Scouting Tampa
The Spartans enter the Friday contest with a 0-1 record on the young season, falling 5-3 on Tuesday to Saint Leo, the No. 3-ranked team in Division II … Rebecca Presley and Anine Wilberg both picked up singles wins against Saint Leo … Tampa was ranked No. 14 in the ITA's national Division II preseason coaches poll.
 
Scouting Air Force
The Falcons arrive in Florida on a two-match winning streak after defeating North Dakota and Idaho by identical 5-2 scores, and will play FIU on Thursday before getting ready for the Mids … Kim Gidley is in her 25th season at Air Force head coach, accumulating 340 wins with the Falcons.
 
Series Histories
This will be the first meeting for Navy against either Tampa or Air Force … Saturday's match will also be the first time Navy faces a Mountain West opponent in program history … This marks the 10th season that the Mids make a spring trip to Florida, and it will the first time in program history where the team makes two Florida trips in one season (March 13-14 in Orlando vs. UConn, Quinnipiac, South Dakota, Niagara).
 
Up Next
Navy stays on the road next weekend, heading to Liberty on Feb. 25 for a 9 a.m. match, before coming home the next day, Feb. 26, to face Howard at 10 a.m.