ANNAPOLIS, Md. – As part of a big weekend in the 2022-23 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, the Navy women's tennis team (14-4, 2-0 PL) heads up to West Point, N.Y., on Saturday for its annual Star Match against Army (18-6, 3-0 PL).
 
Opening serve is set for 11 a.m. at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center, as the Midshipmen enter Saturday on a four-match winning streak while the Black Knights have won their last six contests.
 
Star Series Stakes
Navy currently has a 10-7 lead in the 2022-23 Star Series presented by USAA, with three stars on the line this weekend … In addition to women's tennis, the men's and women's outdoor track & field Star Meet is occurring on Saturday in Annapolis … If Navy claims two stars this weekend, it will secure at least a tie in the 2022-23 Star Series … If Navy earns all three stars, it will win the Star Series for the 41st time in the past 45 years … Navy has claimed stars in sprint football, men's and women's cross country, women's swimming & diving, rifle, gymnastics, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's basketball and wrestling in the 2022-23 Star Series … A fourth Navy squad, baseball, will also play at Army this weekend in a pair of non-star games.
 
Series History
Army leads the all-time series by a 12-6 margin … The Black Knights hold a 5-4 edge over the first nine installments of the Star Match, with the inaugural regular season meeting between the programs coming in 2013 … After Army won the first six matches in the series, the Mids have been able to split the past 12 meetings with the Black Knights … The two rivals faced off twice last season, with Navy taking the Star Match via a 4-1 home win on April 2, 2022, while Army won the Patriot League semifinal showdown, 4-0, 21 days later in Bethlehem, Pa.
 
Last Time Out
The Mids opened Patriot League play with a pair of road wins, pulling off the 7-0 sweep at Lehigh on March 25 before overcoming an early deficit to win, 6-1, at Bucknell the next day … After Navy won the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches over the Mountain Hawks, the Mids completed the shutout by scoring singles wins down the lineup from sophomore Emily Tannenbaum, juniors Stella Ribaudo and Samantha Johns and sophomores Parvathi Shanker and Sylvia Eklund, while fellow sophomore Kate Lee got Navy an additional point via a Lehigh forfeit at No. 6 singles … Despite Lee and Shanker teaming up for a doubles win against Bucknell, the Bison claimed the two other doubles matches to take the opening point, but Navy battled back by sweeping singles play courtesy of wins from Tannenbaum, Ribaudo, freshman Sia Chaudry, senior captain Casey Accola, Lee and freshman Hanna Elks Smith, with Chaudry and Accola outlasting their foes in three-setters.
 
Tannenbaum Earns Weekly League Honors
The reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Tannenbaum picked up her second Patriot League Women's Tennis Player of the Week award of the spring on Tuesday … The sophomore had a pair of singles wins and 1-1 doubles record in Navy's opening weekend of league action … Tannenbaum opened league play by posting a 6-2 win with junior Samantha Johns over Lehigh's No. 1 pairing of Anushka Dania and Megha Dania, following it up with a three-set singles victory (5-7, 6-4, 10-8) against Hamsa Javagal that helped Navy post a 7-0 sweep of Lehigh … Despite Tannenbaum and Johns falling in a tiebreaker against the top Bucknell doubles team of Whitney King and Abby Platt, 7-6 (7-3), Tannenbaum bounced back via a 6-2, 6-4 victory over King on the No. 1 singles court, leading the Mids to a sweep of singles play and a 6-1 win over the Bison … Tannenbaum previously won PL Player of the Week honors on Feb. 7 earlier this season, as well as on April 19, 2022 during her rookie campaign.
 
Scouting the Mids
Tannenbaum leads Navy with 24 singles wins this season, while her 11-3 dual-match singles record is tied for the team lead with Chaudry … Eklund and Lee have a team-best nine doubles wins together, including a 3-1 record in dual matches … Smith enters with a team-leading seven-match singles winning streak, while Johns is undefeated in singles play this spring at 5-0 since returning from injury.
 
Scouting Army
The Black Knights are undefeated since a March 6 loss at Florida Gulf Coast, defeating Rollins, Monmouth and Villanova before picking up home league wins over Holy Cross, Loyola and Lafayette last weekend … Army returns one all-league player from the PL Tournament championship squad, as Second Team All-Patriot League pick Cooper Jackson … Following Saturday's Star Match, Army has four more regular-season contests, including three league matches.
 
Up Next
Navy returns home to Annapolis on April 7 to host Georgetown at 2 p.m. The Mids then play LIU on April 8 for Senior Day, with that match beginning at 11 a.m.