ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 2 seed Navy women's tennis team (18-5, 4-1 PL) is set to open up the 2023 Patriot League Championship against a familiar regional foe, drawing seventh-seeded Loyola (9-14, 3-4 PL) in the league quarterfinals. Opening serve is slated for 3:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon, April 28 at the Malek Tennis Center in West Point, N.Y.
 
The four-day league tournament gets started with a first-round match between Lafayette and Holy Cross on Thursday, while Friday's four quarterfinal contests will be followed by the semifinals on Saturday and Sunday's championship match. The winner between the Midshipmen and Greyhounds will face off against the winner of the No. 3 Army/No. 6 Lehigh quarterfinal showdown, with that semifinal meeting set for 2 p.m. and Sunday's league final scheduled for 1 p.m. In the case of inclement weather, the championship will be moved to the Lichtenberg Tennis Center.
 
Recapping the Regular Season
Going 18-5 overall, the Mids posted a 4-1 mark in Patriot League by claiming its first four league matches before falling to top-seeded Boston University in the regular season finale on April 15 … With freshman Sia Chaudry's singles win being the clinching point both times, Navy went 2-0 against its service academy rivals, as the Mids defeated Air Force, 4-2, in the first-ever meeting between the programs on Feb 18 at the USTA College MatchDay in Orlando, Fla., and then won the Star match over Army, 4-3, earlier this month on April 1 at West Point … The victory over the Falcons capped off an eight-match winning streak for the Mids, while the win against the Black Knights came midway through a season-long nine-match winning streak that was snapped by BU in the regular-season finale … Navy opened Patriot League play with wins at Lehigh and Bucknell before beating Army, and then wrapped up the league road slate with a 6-1 victory at Loyola before coming home for the BU match.
 
Record Book Watching for Tannenbaum
Sophomore Emily Tannenbaum established a new single-season program record for combined wins with her singles victory against Loyola's Lauren Manwiller on April 12 … Surpassing Logan Antill's 48-win mark from 2013, Tannenbaum got her 49th combined win of the season with a victory at the No. 1 singles spot, giving the sophomore 28 singles wins in 2022-23 to go with 21 doubles victories … Tannenbaum enters the postseason at 28 singles victories this season, one shy of matching Amanda Keller's single-season program-record 29 wins during singles competition in 2015 … Tannenbaum also sits at 15 wins at the No. 1 position this season, tied with Erin Snook's program-record 15 wins at the top spot during the 2014 season.
 
Inside the Numbers
This season marks the 10th time that the Mids have tallied 18-or-more regular season wins … Navy has been perfect this season in neutral-site matches, going 4-0 with all four victories taking place in Orlando … Freshman Hanna Elks Smith has the longest active singles winning streak on the team at seven straight matches, posting a 7-1 singles record in dual-match action and 17-4 overall singles mark … Sophomores Sylvia Eklund and Kate Lee have won their last three doubles matches together, as has the duo of sophomore Parvathi Shanker and junior Corinne Farid … Junior Samantha Johns has been a catalyst for Navy since returning from injury, going 7-2 in singles play this spring while going 12-4 in doubles competition, including a 9-4 mark when playing alongside Tannenbaum.
 
Navy at the Patriot League Championship
The Mids are still seeking the first league title in program history this weekend, but have advanced to the semifinal-or-better every year since debuting at the Patriot League's tournament in 2010 … In 12 PL Championships, the Mids have reached the league finals seven times, with the most recent appearance in the championship match coming in 2021 … Navy has previously earned the league's No. 2 in 2011, 2013, 2019 and 2022, going a combined 6-4 in those four tournaments … The Mids are 4-2 in league tournament matches played in West Point … Last year's Patriot League Championship saw the No. 2 Mids notch a 4-0 win over Lehigh in the quarterfinals in Bethlehem, Pa., but Navy could not overcome rival Army, 4-0, in the semifinal round a day later.
 
Scouting Loyola
The Greyhounds have gone 1-2 since facing the Mids two weeks ago, falling 4-3 to crosstown foe Towson the next day before defeating league opponent Lafayette, 4-0, on April 15 and dropping their regular season finale, 5-2, to Mount St. Mary's on April 18 … Christine Richiez has been Loyola's winningest singles player in dual-match season, going 11-10 with a 4-2 conference mark … Olivia Tracey has gone 7-12 while playing all her time at the No. 1 singles spot … Richiez and Lauren Manwiller have posted a 12-3 mark as a doubles pairing, tallying a 6-1 record in conference action.
 
Series History
Navy has posted a 14-0 all-time record against Loyola, including a 2-0 mark over the Greyhounds in Patriot League Championships … The Mids pulled off 4-0 victories over Loyola in both the 2014 and 2016 quarterfinals, with the 2016 quarterfinal win starting a run to the league finals for Navy … Navy took the regular season meeting earlier this month, defeating Loyola by a 6-1 score on April 12 in Baltimore … Despite dropping the doubles point, Navy rallied back by sweeping singles play with Tannenbaum, Chaudry, senior captain Casey Accola, Johns, Lee and Eklund all picking up singles victories.