ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's tennis team (12-4) begins its slate of Patriot League matches this weekend, heading north to play Lehigh (4-5, 0-1) and Bucknell (9-10, 1-1 PL).
 
Opening league play in Bethlehem, Pa., the Midshipmen will face the Mountain Hawks at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 25, before trekking over to Lewisburg, Pa., to square off with the Bison in a noon match on Sunday, March 26.
 
Patriot League Primer
The Mids begin their 13th season of play in the Patriot League (2020 season cancelled before league play began), as the team looks to capture its first league tournament championship … Navy went 4-1 in the Patriot League last season to finish second in the standings behind Boston University, with the Mids' only league loss coming at the hands of the Terriers, 5-2 … Emily Tannenbaum took home Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors in addition to her selection to the All-Patriot League First Team, while the now-graduated Kacey Moore was voted to the All-Patriot League Second Team … Navy finished the season in the PL Tournament, defeating Lehigh, 4-0, in the quarterfinals before falling to rival Army in the semifinal round.
 
Last Time Out
Navy completed the sweep in its second trip to Florida this spring, picking up a trio of wins in Orlando last week … After wins at Tampa and against Air Force in February during the Mids' first trip to the Sunshine State, Navy returned to Florida and opened its second stint with a 5-2 victory over UConn last Monday before sweeping a Tuesday doubleheader with a 5-2 win against South Dakota and a 7-0 rout of Niagara … Against UConn, the Mids overcame their top pairing losing to still take the doubles point, while Tannenbaum, freshman Sia Chaudry, senior captain Casey Accola and junior Samantha Johns all won their singles matches versus the Huskies … Despite South Dakota stealing the doubles point, the Mids bounced back in the first half of the twinbill when Tannenbaum, Chaudry, Johns, sophomore Sylvia Eklund and freshman Hanna Elks Smith all captured wins on the singles courts … After going 3-for-3 in doubles against Niagara, the Mids then saw junior Stella Ribaudo, Accola, sophomore Parvathi Shanker, Eklund, Smith and junior Corinne Farid all win their singles matches against the Purple Eagles.
 
Scouting the Mids
Leading Navy in singles play is Tannenbaum with 22 wins, just two shy of her rookie year total (24), while Chaudry is second on the team at 19 singles victories … The winningest pairing has been the sophomore duo of Eklund at Lee at nine doubles wins together … Smith enters the weekend on a team-best six-match singles winning streak, while Johns also has a four-match win streak as the Mids hit league play.
 
Scouting Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks come into Saturday's showdown at 4-5 on the season, riding a two-match winning streak via a 4-3 win over Quinnipiac in Florida and a 4-3 home win against Loyola to open up Patriot League action … Against the Greyhounds on March 18, Lehigh dropped the doubles point and two of the first three singles matches, but stormed back to win the last three singles matches … Megha Dania paces the Mountain Hawks with six singles wins during the dual-match season, while Anushka Dania and Hamsa Javagal heave each tallied five wins in singles competition … The Dania twins have gone 4-4 in doubles matches, while the pairing of Javagal and Bella Peters have also registered a 4-4 doubles record.
 
Scouting Bucknell
The Bison moved to 9-10 with three straight losses in South Carolina over spring break after having won seven of their last eight matches … Bucknell already has two league matches under its belt, falling at Boston back in January but sweeping Loyola earlier this month in South Williamsport … Starting with Navy, Bucknell's final five matches of the regular season are all Patriot League opponents … Anna Lajos currently leads the Bison with 14 singles wins on the season, while Abby Platt leads the team in overall doubles wins with 14 … Platt has partnered with Whitney King 13 times this season, posting a team-best 9-4 record as a pairing.
 
Series Histories                          
Navy is 14-0 all-time against Lehigh, including a pair of wins over the Mountain Hawks last season … The Mids pulled off a 7-0 sweep of Lehigh in last year's regular season meeting, and then captured its Patriot League quarterfinal victory over the Mountain Hawks by taking the doubles point and then getting singles wins from Eklund (by default), Accola and Ribaudo … Navy also has a 15-2 edge over Bucknell in the all-time series, including winning the last 15 meetings … Last season's match between the Mids and Bison saw Navy win all three doubles matches and then get singles wins from Tannenbaum, Moore, Meghana Komarraju, Katreina Corpuz and Ribaudo.
 
Up Next
Navy heads to West Point, N.Y., on Saturday, April 1 for the annual Star match with Army at 11 a.m.